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Original poster

Breastfeeding and the vaccine

86 replies

PintOfBovril · 28/11/2020 14:05

I'm a front line NHS nurse and over the coming weeks we'll be offered the Coronavirus vaccination. I want to have it, for the personal health benefit and to protect those around me, especially my vulnerable patients. However I am hesitant due to the fact that I'm still breastfeeding and the vaccine hasn't been tested on lactating mothers. What are your thoughts on this? My LO is 13 months so I know I don't have to bf but neither of us is ready to stop yet.

OP posts:
footprintsintheslow · 04/12/2020 06:05

@raviolidreaming

Please don't take advice from the Internet on something this important. No matter how convincing someone sounds, you don't know if they're just repeating what they've read / heard elsewhere.
The breastfeeding network is the source I would trust and recommend.
footprintsintheslow · 04/12/2020 06:07

@trunumber

It's makes me so angry, trying to put the responsibility on doctors. Previous research shows vaccines are safe in breastfeeding. Il really hoping the breastfeeding network will say something. I'm an NHS worker and really don't want to be made to give up breastfeeding for the vaccine (I will, DS is old enough that he doesn't need it, but he doesn't want to give up)
Who will make up give it up?
footprintsintheslow · 04/12/2020 06:11

@trunumber sorry that should've said

Who will make you give it (bf'ing) up?

Sitt · 04/12/2020 06:15

I think the concern is that if a woman is offered the vaccine but cannot have it as long as she is breastfeeding, she may feel under pressure to stop breastfeeding in order to protect herself and others from covid, or to be able to work, or to be able to access certain places. It is hard to know how likely this is to happen.

Suzi888 · 04/12/2020 07:05

@Sitt that’s what I said. To be honest I didn’t read the whole thread, I read a few responses and thought Confused

Sitt · 04/12/2020 08:09

No it was obvious you hadn’t read the whole thread. The content of your post had already been well covered.

TheMagicDeckchair · 04/12/2020 09:06

This question has been raised and debated in some of my birth clubs. Whilst the verdict is pretty unanimous in pregnancy that the vaccine is unlikely to be offered or accepted as things stand, breastfeeding is a greyer area.

With pregnancy there is a time limit of around 42 weeks so it would be easy to say to vaccinate post birth, but then the breastfeeding question arises again. Mothers can breastfeed for years. Will there be an age of child where it’s considered “safe” to give the vaccine? Will the antibodies be passed on in the breastmilk, actually giving benefit to the child?

TTC is also a grey area as that can go on for years too!

Very surprised that a breastfeeding mum wouldn’t be offered the flu jab given it is actually recommended in pregnancy!

JS87 · 04/12/2020 09:27

With the exception of the vaccine itself getting into breastmilk I can't see how breastfeeding after the vaccine would be any different to breastfeeding whilst having/after covid. The antibodies that could get into the breastmilk would be no different to those raised in normal infection to the spike protein. So it must come down to whether the vaccine itself can get into breastmilk. As the vaccines haven't been tested on children that is why they will be cautious to say if it is ok or not.

As pp has said live replicating vaccines (not sure if they exist?) would be more likely to be in breastmilk than other vaccines). I imagine most of the vaccines can't get anywhere other than the arm in which they are injected.
I would think that they could do some studies measuring levels of the vaccine in breastmilk and if it was zero then they could say it was safe to use? If it wasn't zero they would have to wait until the vaccine had been tested in babies / young children to say it was safe?

Persipan · 04/12/2020 09:32

I would think that they could do some studies measuring levels of the vaccine in breastmilk and if it was zero then they could say it was safe to use? If it wasn't zero they would have to wait until the vaccine had been tested in babies / young children to say it was safe?
I imagine recruiting a suitable cohort of study subjects who are lactating (in order to have milk to test) but not currently breastfeeding (in order not to pose any unethical potential risk, however remote, to babies/children) would be awkward.

EasterIssland · 04/12/2020 09:32

I found this yesterday on one of my local bf clubs
l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyellowcard.mhra.gov.uk%2F&h=AT2Ls2cjsa6Q6mUnCC_F2NVdLPLIlK9vJ_sNkqiaC3RKBznjbFBmjsnrB4BD_XhzyXg0IPPuOrn_JtJYvrslIqNeUCiO9y9fa-mDPU2-LDHeTrcH7tlLS87Az1Ev-wFy4Gei0Mc&s=1

"Pregnancy and breastfeeding
There is no known risk associated with giving inactivated, recombinant viral or bacterial vaccines or toxoids during pregnancy or whilst breast-feeding (Kroger A et al., 2013). Since inactivated vaccines cannot replicate, they cannot cause infection in either the mother or the fetus. Although AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine contains a live adenovirus vector, this virus is not replicating so will not cause infection in the mother or the fetus. As with most pharmaceutical products, specific clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women have not been carried out."

EasterIssland · 04/12/2020 09:33

sorry the above link doesn't work :(

JS87 · 04/12/2020 10:16

@Persipan

I would think that they could do some studies measuring levels of the vaccine in breastmilk and if it was zero then they could say it was safe to use? If it wasn't zero they would have to wait until the vaccine had been tested in babies / young children to say it was safe? I imagine recruiting a suitable cohort of study subjects who are lactating (in order to have milk to test) but not currently breastfeeding (in order not to pose any unethical potential risk, however remote, to babies/children) would be awkward.
Yes, hence why they probably don't know if it's ok or not. They'd have to find people who have just stopped breastfeeding and then vaccinate them and they'd have to express. As the majority of people vaccinated in the first wave will be over 50 I suppose it isn't their top priority to do those sorts of studies. What that means for HCP and care workers who are breastfeeding is a lack of clarity over whether it is safe or not.
Original poster
PintOfBovril · 04/12/2020 10:52

Just to clarify for PP who said not to take advice from the Internet on this, I'm not taking advice, I just wanted to see if others shared my concern and if they had any evidence based resources they could signpost to. I think that's one of the best things about having this kind of forum.

OP posts:
musicalfrog · 04/12/2020 13:42

Many women continue to lactate for years after bf has stopped. It shouldn't be too difficult to find a good number of subjects for this.

trunumber · 04/12/2020 17:22

In terms of the vaccine getting into breast milk, breastfeeding network say vaccines aren't orally bioavailable so can't be consumed via breast milk

Original poster
PintOfBovril · 05/12/2020 11:47

@trunumber yes they do, except this is based on existing vaccine technology and not the novel mRNA approach. Don't get me wrong, I really really want to be able to accept the vaccination if and when it is offered, but I do want to feel as reassured as I usually do about its safety for my LO

OP posts:
PreRaphaeliteMotherhood · 05/12/2020 11:52

I’m pretty sure I’d accept if/when offered (NHS midwife, currently on maternity leave) but I am waiting to hear what Wendy Jones has to say!

trunumber · 05/12/2020 12:37

I'm hoping by the time it rolls out to me that it'll be the Oxford vaccine, it's rather that than Pzifer

musicalfrog · 05/12/2020 19:10

@preraphaelitemotherhood please let us know when you hear anything from her. I fear she'll be inundated with enquiries!

Original poster
PintOfBovril · 07/12/2020 19:36

Hi all. Apologies for the massive link

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-women-of-childbearing-age-currently-pregnant-planning-a-pregnancy-or-breastfeeding/covid-19-vaccination-a-guide-for-women-of-childbearing-age-pregnant-planning-a-pregnancy-or-breastfeeding

This is pretty unequivocal, advises not to the have the vaccine if BFing.

OP posts:
PeigiSu · 07/12/2020 20:54

Yeah I’ve just seen this, thanks for posting. Our trust sent an email last week not mentioning breastfeeding as an exemption and then another today with it listed.

I’m really torn. DS is 17 months and we’re probably not miles off finishing. I work with very vulnerable patients and DS is also vulnerable. Can’t decide if it would be better to stop breastfeeding and protect him and others that way or continue breastfeeding so he gets all the other antibodies.

In the beginning he was shielding but now we are less worried about small children and COVID but I still worry about him and all respiratory viruses. Argh! Tricky!

It did cross my mind to not mention it and go ahead anyway but not sure that’s the right call.

What’s everyone else thinking?

EasterIssland · 07/12/2020 21:37

In this fb thread there is some nhs workers willing to have it
www.facebook.com/1207512495929479/posts/5292028297477858/?d=n

EasterIssland · 08/12/2020 11:44

little bit crap wait til finished bf... bf can be a 1h journey or a 5y journey... hoping the other vaccines have been tested on bf women

trunumber · 08/12/2020 14:55

Breastfeeding network had a post essentially saying it was fine and they've now removed that. Our trust sent something out saying can't be given to "new mothers who are breastfeeding" - well I'm not a new mother, DS is 3 yrs old, but I planned to let him self wean. I'm annoyed because I really think it will be one of those things where it's actually fine but no one will say that.