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MNHQ

New helpline from Pregnant then Screwed about the vaccine and pregnancy

32 replies

JuliaMumsnet · 23/08/2021 11:34

Hello everyone

We’ve been contacted by the excellent Pregnant Then Screwed, who have just launched a project in collaboration with Full Fact to give pregnant women access to factual, unbiased information about the vaccine in pregnancy. People can message the WhatsApp number with a question and they will get a response about what we know on that particular topic.

The idea is to reduce the misinformation that is spreading like wildfire on this issue. Keeping pregnant women fully informed hasn’t happened well enough and with so few pregnant women vaccinated and 99% of pregnant women who are currently in ICU being unvaccinated, we agree with Pregnant Then Screwed that we really need to put control back into the hands of pregnant women.

The Whatsapp number is 07521770995. Anyone can message with a question and will get a factual, unbiased response.

We’re going to be launching a Mumsnet expert Q&A about the vaccine and women’s health - from menstruation, the menopause and fertility to pregnancy and breastfeeding - later this week, so keep an eye out for that, we’ll pin it around the site.

Thanks!

MNHQ

New helpline from Pregnant then Screwed about the vaccine and pregnancy
OP posts:
8dpwoah · 23/08/2021 12:59

Just giving this a bump, it's great news.

You see so many posts saying that people's medical carers haven't adhered to the RCOG position, it's so disappointing. Such a shame that it's taken so much heartache for those ladies who have caught it unvaccinated and been really unwell or worse for people (not Pregnant then Screwed or Mumsnet, I mean people in general!) to sit up and take notice. This is a really helpful thing to do, thank you.

Saoirse82 · 23/08/2021 13:06

I had the first AZ before getting pregnant, it was an agonising decision to get the 2nd one back in early June when we were still being told different things from different midwives/GPs/consultants. After suffering years of infertility and miscarriage I was terrified to have the 2nd vaccine and equally as frightened to not have it. I did get the 2nd one at 16 weeks and I'm incredibly grateful I did. I'm so glad there is now better information regarding the vaccines in pregnancy and something like this will hopefully push even more pregnant women to get vaccinated. A new mother died a few days ago in my local hospital from covid after her baby was safely delivered, absolutely heartbreaking.

mamamalt · 23/08/2021 13:27

Another bump from me as there are so many threads on here where pregnant women aren't getting the vaccine but aren't sure where to get information they can trust!

mamamalt · 23/08/2021 13:28

To add I'm 35 weeks and had my second Pfizer jab four weeks ago 🙃

MrsMcAloon · 23/08/2021 16:45

This is good news.

MoseSchrute · 23/08/2021 16:57

I had my first before I found out I was pregnant and then tried to go for my second when I was 9 weeks but the Nurse at the vaccine centre said they wouldn’t do it until I was in my second trimester and then handed me a leaflet which said the exact opposite (ie pregnant women get it done no matter what essentially)……. So now I’m back waiting until 2nd trimester.

TheVolturi · 23/08/2021 18:10

This is great news, nothing worse than being pregnant and feeling pressured to do something that your aren't sure will be good for you or baby.

everythingthelighttouches · 23/08/2021 18:12

This is brilliant news. Anti vax information is killing pregnant women.

2021mumma · 23/08/2021 19:21

I messaged on Saturday still waiting for reply hope it will be soon!

8dpwoah · 23/08/2021 19:47

@everythingthelighttouches

This is brilliant news. Anti vax information is killing pregnant women.
Amen to that! Including medical staff not following the published guidelines, judging by a number of posts on here. They can't all be from people hiding behind staff when it's actually their own choice not to have it, surely?
Staryflight445 · 23/08/2021 20:08

@wannabeamummysobad

OverTheRubicon · 23/08/2021 20:36

Absolutely agree. Totally understand why pregnant women are so hesitant - I worried for weeks even about getting a flu Jan - but also my heart sinks when I see thread after thread on here with someone coming on to say they're pregnant and unvaccinated, the outcomes for pregnant people with covid can be so bad.

MovinOnUp · 23/08/2021 21:44

What I'd like to know is how can it be that one week the advice was not to take the vaccine if pregnant or trying to conceive.
The next week it was apparently perfectly safe.
I'll maybe contact pregnant then screwed tomorrow to see if they can answer my question as neither the GP nor midwife could.

speckledostrichegg · 23/08/2021 21:50

@MovinOnUp

What I'd like to know is how can it be that one week the advice was not to take the vaccine if pregnant or trying to conceive. The next week it was apparently perfectly safe. I'll maybe contact pregnant then screwed tomorrow to see if they can answer my question as neither the GP nor midwife could.
The advice was never that it wasn't safe to take the vaccine.

It was simply that, as per standard protocol, it wasn't tested on pregnant women in trials. Because there was strong hypothetical evidence (based on existing vaccines and mechanism of action) that it would be safe, it was offered on a case by case basis with women at either high risk of exposure or CEV going ahead, as the benefits clearly outweighed the risks.

Now that we have a huge amount of data from women who did take it when pregnant, there was enough evidence to demonstrate it is safe in pregnancy and is recommended all women take it. This is alongside a better understanding of the risks of COVID when pregnant, which we didn't have at the start of the pandemic.

8dpwoah · 23/08/2021 22:19

Yes, pregnant frontline workers were offered it in January time to whenever the vaccine was first being rolled out, as it was thought the benefits of protection against Covid would outweigh the hypothetical risks of the vaccine for those specific women who were highly likely to be exposed, it just wasn't considered necessary for the wider pregnant population to have it at that point as we were still under quite a lot of restrictions, until more data had come through from the US and Israel. When that data was released our authorities then had enough information, along with case studies from those early vaccinated healthcare staff etc, to be able to change the guidance to say actually we now feel that it's worth pregnant women considering this. Then the delta variant came along, and we have got absolute concrete data that unvaccinated women are getting seriously ill and sadly dying, so they can encourage the vaccine even more strongly.

It would always be a binary yes/no switch between the guidance changing, it can't be done as a drip feed really. Yesterday we didn't have the info in enough detail or in a formal context so it's a no, today we do have that info in an official published capacity so we can change our stance in response, kind of thing.

That's my understanding anyway.

MovinOnUp · 23/08/2021 22:24

When I was first offered the vaccine I was pregnant and when I told the person on the phone (from the medical practice) they said the advice was not to have it.

speckledostrichegg · 23/08/2021 22:28

@MovinOnUp

When I was first offered the vaccine I was pregnant and when I told the person on the phone (from the medical practice) they said the advice was not to have it.
Yup, if you weren't CEV or at high risk of exposure then that would have been the advice, given the available evidence at the time.
MovinOnUp · 23/08/2021 22:33

Okay, Glad I am remembering it correctly then.

MissBridgetJones · 23/08/2021 22:48

Another bump.

8dpwoah · 23/08/2021 23:17

I've just had a quick look on my GP record and I had a phone conversation about it with my practice nurse in the last week of April so that would have been around the time the guidance changed, mid to late April. Then a week or so later they changed it to all under 40s having Pfizer or Moderna only (so automatically making it ok for pregnant women under 40 to get jabbed, I had originally phoned because I was trying to find out how to get it done without having to dodge AZ as that wasn't advised for us). So anyone advised not to have it after say the beginning of May, unless for a specific medical reason, was let down by their healthcare professional in my view. In education you aren't allowed to influence students by sharing personal opinions (ok in reality this does happen with minor things mostly to no consequence) so if the RCOG etc advice was to have the jab then every woman who had a conversation about vaccines from May onwards should surely have been told the guidance was to go for it? I wouldn't be resting very easy right now if I was a HCP who had been advising my patients not to have it when the guidance said they should, the way things have panned out. Different if the patient makes a personal choice but if that choice had been influenced by my own opinion I would be feeling a bit sweaty until I knew they'd all successfully delivered their babies.

8dpwoah · 23/08/2021 23:19

Should say I don't mean that to be critical of anyone providing care to me, it's been fairly crap in general but they were all very clear about refering to the relevant guidelines at the time and kept their own views out of it.

Cafeaulait27 · 24/08/2021 18:01

I’m 32 weeks and double jabbed.

I wrote to my hospital as covid jabs haven’t been mentioned at any of my antenatal appointments at all, it’s as though covid doesn’t exist. They should be giving out the RCOG leaflet and discussing it with pregnant women the same as they give out a whooping cough leaflet.

The response I got was that the advice only changed in July - when I know the advice actually changed in April! Because I booked mine as soon as my age group was eligible in May.

My midwife was aware of my complaint and mentioned it to me at my last appointment ( I had to stress it wasn’t a complaint about her, just of overall policy) and she thanked me for raising it and said they’d all been spoken to, and that some midwives had changed their approach to ensure they talk about it at appointments.

I would highly recommend writing to your hospital if you need to, in order to bring this to their attention and hopefully more pregnant women will be spoken to about the vaccine.

FreshFreesias · 24/08/2021 18:44

So healthy pregnant women are told not to eat unpasteurised cheese but are encouraged to take an untested vaccine.
Go figure.

8dpwoah · 24/08/2021 19:08

Yeah, it's called known small but severe risk of listeria and known large and severe risk of Covid. Hope that helps.

8dpwoah · 24/08/2021 19:09

Good on you @Cafeaulait27 I can't believe the amount of posts on here where people have had non-standard advice. That's how the antivax stuff takes hold isn't it, if there's a vacuum where the official stuff should have been.