To ask wether you had the flu jab in pregnancy

[Ilovechocolatetoomuch]

Hi.
More of a what do you do.
I am not anti vaccine, however for some reason the flu jab does not sit right with me. I didn't have it with my first.
What are other people's thoughts on it?

[LilQueenie]

Sammysquiz the jab isn't free. Taxpayer money is used to buy in bulk then given freely by the doctors. If they don't meet their quota then there is a loss in money.

[BlueSapp]

No never would not in pregnancy or other wise it’s an unnecessary medication

[cluelessnewmum]

I have (27 weeks pregnant), flu during pregnancy is dangerous. Associated with increased risk of autism and schizophrenia in your baby.

It also protects you from contracting flu then giving to your newborn after birth. Nurse also recommended dc got it done for that reason so have done that also.

[Emeraude]

Yes, of course. I had a cold in pregnancy and it was the worst I’ve ever had. I also had a chest infection which took weeks to kick. When I had flu (years ago) I genuinely thought I was dying, so I couldn’t imagine how awful it would be in pregnancy.

[mirime]

@BlueSapp

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/3096.aspx?CategoryID=5

www.gov.uk/government/news/report-reveals-36-women-died-from-flu-in-3-years

Yep, completely unnecessary.

[Sashkin]

I was on antenatal ward for eight weeks this pregnancy, and saw one woman admitted at 22 weeks pregnant, with flu. She went off to ITU, and apparently had an emergency c-section to try to improve her chances of survival. Doubt her baby had much chance of survival at that gestational age. Also saw several dying pregnant women on ITU during the swine flu pandemic a few years ago. Absolutely hideous.

So yep, I had the flu jab and would have it again. People saying it "gave them pneumonia" when they'd never been ill in their lives before - no, being pregnant depressed your immune system and compressed your lungs (as it does, that's why catching flu is so much more dangerous for pregnant women) and that laid you open to catching "normal" pneumonia. You're completely right that you wouldn't have caught pneumonia if you weren't pregnant, but completely wrong about it being due to the flu jab.

[Getsorted21]

Maternal deaths are still pretty high in the UK, compared to other European countries which is pretty shocking & something I wasn't aware of.

[MissConductUS]

Taxpayer money is used to buy in bulk then given freely by the doctors. If they don't meet their quota then there is a loss in money.

@LilQueenie, please enlighten this poor Yank healthcare professional how this works. The NHS purchases and distributes millions of doses of influenza vaccine. Doctors operate under an employment contract with the NHS, correct?

Are you actually suggesting that doctors (who probably do a tiny minority of the injections, with most being done by nurses or pharmacists or other HCP's) work on a quota system, like car salesmen? And that they are somehow penalized financially if too few people get the jab?

Please provide some reliable evidence that this is how it works in the UK.

[Sashkin]

@Misconduct

She is talking about QOF points:

qof.digital.nhs.uk/

Essentially GP practices are paid a premium for achieving certain clinical outcomes. So, X% of asthma patients had an asthma review in the last year, Y% of hypertensives had a BP check, Z% of diabetics had an HbA1c. Mostly focused on chronic disease management and public health/disease prevention. It's been very effective at improving standards of care. The targets are clinically important ones, it isn't stuff like "10% of patients given a blue elastoplast, 20% of patients given a pink one".

I think it's a gross distortion to describe flu jabs for vulnerable groups as a money spinner, but there genuinely are incentives for practices to hit targets. There are also financial incentives for hospital trusts to hit (different) targets, but I doubt anyone would describe avoiding MRSA as "a money-spinner".

GPs are not directly employed by the NHS - they're actually run as small businesses (throwback from the creation of the NHS). They are only paid something like £68 PER YEAR for each patient (regardless of how many appointments that patient has), and the rest of their income comes from QOF points and things like that. GP principals have to pay their pension and payroll costs, building rent/fees etc out of that money too).

Hospital doctors are paid directly by the NHS, and their salary is dependent on seniority and hours worked not performance-based, and is the same across the whole NHS. The hospital payscales are published here:

www.nhsemployers.org/case-studies-and-resources/2017/08/pay-and-conditions-circular-md-1-2017

[LiquoricePickle]

I didn't. It's not a thing where I live right now.

[musicform]

Yes do it

[MissConductUS]

Thank you for the clarification Sashkin, most interesting. The flat annual fee per patient (ca!led capitation) is a common arrangement here too between doctors and insurers.

Off To Bed.

[WonderLime]

The thing is, I assume most posters wouldn’t be set against other vaccinations or call them ‘unnecessary’.

For example, Polio vaccination is routinely given to children yet it’s a rare condition, often fought of by the body with no complications. It’s probably less ‘necessary’ than the flu vaccine yet it’s rarely questioned in the same way.

The problem is the poor understanding around influenza. It’s not just a bad cold. The flu is a common illness that can cause otherwise health adults to become bed ridden. If your immune system is already compromised due to pregnancy, what do you think it will end up doing to you and the baby?

And even ignoring yourself, being vaccinations can help provent the virus from spreading to other vulnerable people.

[chipswithchips]

I accepted all treatment in pregnancy advised to me by medical staff who were much more qualified than me to take decisions about my healthcare.

Amen

[Kittykatmacbill]

Of course!

Adults and babies die of the flu. Why wouldn’t you?