To think pregnant women should get the vaccine

[HopefulRose]

This is controversial but had a lively debate with a family member about this today. I’m currently pregnant and double jabbed and hopeful I can get my booster soon. I’ve been quite surprised and tbh annoyed at the number of pregnant women refusing to get the vaccine.

Pregnant women who are unvaccinated end up getting much more sick from Covid than those who have the vaccines. And those who are getting ill end up taking up resources in hospitals which causes a knock on effect to the care of other pregnant women who are vaccinated. A friend recently was supposed to have a home birth but had to go into hospital because there weren’t enough midwives due to this very problem.

Perhaps it’s a failure on the government/ DHSC’s behalf for not communicating this strongly enough. I understand if there are genuine concerns but most of the people I’ve spoken to who don’t want the vaccine don’t appear to be interested in the medical or logical arguments and their decisions come from ‘feeling’ (or Facebook) rather than reasoning.

Jesus, step away from the KoolAid, @Ralph871.

Yabu.

I am very pro-vaccine, double jabbed, have my booster booked and encouraged both my kids to have theirs (only one did, but I did my absolute best). I’m unsure I would have the vaccine if I was pregnant. I believe it’s safe, but it’s very difficult to get out of the mindset that you must not do anything at all to put the baby at risk. I gave up alcohol, coffee, chocolate, seafood, everything that I enjoy when I was pregnant and took nothing but a very occasional paracetamol or gaviscon. Pregnant mums are made to feel guilty about every little thing they do so I’m not at all surprised they are hesitant about a vaccine. It’s a very personal decision. You had the opportunity to make your choice without judgement so you should respect their choice, it won’t have been easy.

To be due with a baby now, you'd have concieved around Feb/ March before the vaccine was avaliable to healthy women of reproductive age.

I had my first vaccine at 40 in early April, the weekend that correlations were made with clots and emerging reports of effects on the menstrual cycle. My area was ahead of average and few pregnant women would have had jab 1 by then.

If you're in your 3rd trimester, you'd have spent your first trimester being told not to have the vaccine. Many women will have missed the mass vaccination window of their peer group under that advice.

The advice has changed, but in a society that judges if you've had a prawn sandwich, an unsuspecting alcoholic drink or too many cups of coffee, it's tricky for women to adjust to a U-turn of don't have a new vaccine without complete evidence to do have it.

Women at earlier stages of pregnancy who have had more consistent, positive information should have a better take-up and time will resolve much of the legacy of conflicting information in the first half of 2021.

I'm not going to judge pregnant women for the choices they've made with rapidly changing advice.
If I was pregnant now, I would keep up with vaccines.
If I had been pregnant in the spring with what we knew at that moment, I wouldn't have done.

It's deeply unfair of the media to now be shaming women in the 3rd trimester for the choices they made with scanty and contradictory information.

@Poptart4

YABU

I'm double jabbed and just got my booster shot BUT if I was pregnant I honestly don't know if I would get the vaccine.

It's way too new and, in my opinion, seems very rushed.

Pregnant women are in an Impossible position. Remember it wasn't that long ago women were told a pill that stopped morning sickness was safe, then hundreds (maybe thousands??) Of babies were born without limbs.

I don't envy any women having yo make this decision right now. You sound very judgemental

This. ^ I am not an anti-vaxxer and have both vaccines (and the booster too - this week.) But no WAY would I be having it if I was pregnant. Nope.

...I have HAD both vaccines and the booster too.

@BogRollBOGOF

To be due with a baby now, you'd have concieved around Feb/ March before the vaccine was avaliable to healthy women of reproductive age.

I had my first vaccine at 40 in early April, the weekend that correlations were made with clots and emerging reports of effects on the menstrual cycle. My area was ahead of average and few pregnant women would have had jab 1 by then.

If you're in your 3rd trimester, you'd have spent your first trimester being told not to have the vaccine. Many women will have missed the mass vaccination window of their peer group under that advice.

The advice has changed, but in a society that judges if you've had a prawn sandwich, an unsuspecting alcoholic drink or too many cups of coffee, it's tricky for women to adjust to a U-turn of don't have a new vaccine without complete evidence to do have it.

Women at earlier stages of pregnancy who have had more consistent, positive information should have a better take-up and time will resolve much of the legacy of conflicting information in the first half of 2021.

I'm not going to judge pregnant women for the choices they've made with rapidly changing advice.
If I was pregnant now, I would keep up with vaccines.
If I had been pregnant in the spring with what we knew at that moment, I wouldn't have done.

It's deeply unfair of the media to now be shaming women in the 3rd trimester for the choices they made with scanty and contradictory information.

Thanks for this post.

This is exactly the scenario I was in. I am fed up of being shamed now when I am heavily pregnant. Where I live I cannot go anywhere e.g. eat indoors etc without being vaccinated which I have fully accepted. I don't go anywhere unnecessary. I am living a very quiet life. I wear a mask all the time, I sanitise. If I have any sign of a cold, I stay away from people, I have antigen tested myself to be sure. I am not anti-vax in the slightest, there simply isn't enough evidence on the effects on the unborn. Sure I might be fine getting it, not keel over but no one has given me any evidence on babies born because there is none.

I wish people would accept my choice.

The initial comms were poor but they’ve now recommending vaccines are fine for pregnant women, so if they don’t take them despite that they’re functionally no different to anti-vaxcers, however they dress it up.

I bet those that refuse the vaccine wouldn’t refuse the medications that they’re currently using to try treat covid itself hey. Even though those haven’t been tested long term for this use.
🙄

As a sonographer it is extremely frustrating. The majority of women I scan just refuse point blank to even have the conversation with our midwives. Our consultants are getting increasingly frustrated. Talking about the lack of long term data is ridiculous when we have know long term date on what being seriously ill with Covid while pregnant either but you can be pretty sure which has the worse outcomes. We are seeing placentas affected by it. Very sick mum’s and babies deliver prematurely which does affect them in the long term as well. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to risk leaving their child without a mother. Just get the vaccine!!

@Staryflight445

The data is there, go and find it. There is more than one study that proves that the risk of side effects from covid itself is greater than the risk from the vaccine and also that the side effects from covid itself are more dangerous than the ones from the vaccine.

MRNA vaccines aren’t exactly new, it’s been in produce for a long time and thankfully it was because we need it now.

If you don’t believe in science maybe get off your phone and go live in a box in the countryside on your own with your homegrown food and natural remedies, else you’re just a hypocrite. @OliviaBean

More generalisations, scientific ones no less.

We will agree to differ.

Thank you for your last paragraph, you are quite lovely.

None of that was a generalisation.
I haven’t spoken anything that isn’t factual/ evidence based.

So the original first dose, stopped my pill working and I fell pregnant.
I was urged to get the second as I was also a high risk pregnancy due on 6th December this year.
I eventually gave in and got the second jab on 20th (last week) my waters broke that night when I got home and I gave birth 2 weeks and 2 days early! I’m convinced it was the vaccine!

My waters broke two weeks early too. Pre Covid. Which is a completely normal event given that you are full term at that point. To blame a vaccine on something that is a standard event in pregnancy anyway is just pointless.

@olivehater

As a sonographer it is extremely frustrating. The majority of women I scan just refuse point blank to even have the conversation with our midwives. Our consultants are getting increasingly frustrated. Talking about the lack of long term data is ridiculous when we have know long term date on what being seriously ill with Covid while pregnant either but you can be pretty sure which has the worse outcomes. We are seeing placentas affected by it. Very sick mum’s and babies deliver prematurely which does affect them in the long term as well. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to risk leaving their child without a mother. Just get the vaccine!!

The sonographers I had during pregnancy did not mention the vaccine at all to me, even when I asked them to check all was well following covid 🤷‍♀️ In fact I wasn’t asked at all at any stage of pregnancy whether I was vaccinated and the vaccine was made available to pregnant women when I was around 12 weeks.

@Pinkstegosaurus no me either. I was asked once if I had the vaccine by my midwife. Once I had stated no. She said that's understandable and that was it.

Think what you like. It's up to each individual.

Women are reporting that their periods have changed since getting vaccinated. I missed 3 periods after mine. This was presumably not a known side effect initially, since women weren't told it was a possibility. Now if a vaccine can affect hormones and upset normal menstrual cycles, how can women be reassured that it won't upset hormones in pregnancy and potentially lead to problems?

This is perhaps the overbearing paternalistic condescending attitude towards pregnant women coming home to roost.
Pregnant women have been told to avoid coffee, alcohol (even though a small amount is safe), paracetamol (most recently), shellfish, deli meat, soft serve ice cream, eye drops, paté (Vitamin A overdose, fair enough but I doubt a bit on a cracker is going to harm anyone) brie/goats cheese/soft cheese/raw cheese , the list goes on.

But here is an untested vaccine with NO POSSIBLE long term data because it's only been around for a months in the single digits. Inject that into yourself. More than once. And have a booster. It's probably fine. But not definitely. Don't have a lemsip though.

Massive cognitive dissonance

You are completely unreasonable to be annoyed about the choices other pregnant women make for themselves.

Funny how, for such a 'pro-choice' forum, just how disgustingly vitriolic people are on here about pregnant women making their own decision about vaccines 😡

When I was pregnant not a single midwife or doctor suggested I have the vaccine.

It is up to the individual.

@olivehater

As a sonographer it is extremely frustrating. The majority of women I scan just refuse point blank to even have the conversation with our midwives. Our consultants are getting increasingly frustrated. Talking about the lack of long term data is ridiculous when we have know long term date on what being seriously ill with Covid while pregnant either but you can be pretty sure which has the worse outcomes. We are seeing placentas affected by it. Very sick mum’s and babies deliver prematurely which does affect them in the long term as well. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to risk leaving their child without a mother. Just get the vaccine!!

If I was pregnant and I came for a scan, and you got on your high horse and started barking at me that I was WRONG to not have the vaccination (whilst pregnant,) you would get a short shrift from me. My choice to not have the vaccine whilst pregnant has got fuck-all to do with you. You are paid to do a job, not lecture people with your 'opinions!'

@BillyBarryBoo

This is perhaps the overbearing paternalistic condescending attitude towards pregnant women coming home to roost. Pregnant women have been told to avoid coffee, alcohol (even though a small amount is safe), paracetamol (most recently), shellfish, deli meat, soft serve ice cream, eye drops, paté (Vitamin A overdose, fair enough but I doubt a bit on a cracker is going to harm anyone) brie/goats cheese/soft cheese/raw cheese , the list goes on.

But here is an untested vaccine with NO POSSIBLE long term data because it's only been around for a months in the single digits. Inject that into yourself. More than once. And have a booster. It's probably fine. But not definitely. Don't have a lemsip though.

Massive cognitive dissonance

Brilliant post!

Soooo much stuff is 'BAD' for you when you're pregnant, and women get barked at by judgy fuckers for DARING to do - or consume -ANYTHING.

And yet some people are insisting they are injected with some new, untested vaccine with no long term data, and no WAY of knowing if it will harm the unborn child.

Fucking batshit.

@Aderyn21

Women are reporting that their periods have changed since getting vaccinated. I missed 3 periods after mine. This was presumably not a known side effect initially, since women weren't told it was a possibility. Now if a vaccine can affect hormones and upset normal menstrual cycles, how can women be reassured that it won't upset hormones in pregnancy and potentially lead to problems?

Good point!

Now if a vaccine can affect hormones and upset normal menstrual cycles, how can women be reassured that it won't upset hormones in pregnancy and potentially lead to problems?

Good point!

It really isn’t.

There’s masses of real world data showing vaccinations aren’t leading to worse outcomes for pregnancies.