Flu jab-to have or not

[Koba88]

I'm currently 31 weeks pregnant and have been advised to have my flu jab next week at my doctors surgery. To my recollection I have never had flu and usually get one cold per winter, when I asked my midwife what she would advise she said 'well it is what the NHS do advise so I have to go from that standpoint and advise you'. My friend is 32 weeks and was very ill after having her jab. I have no clue what to do! If I get sick and have to take time off work there are threats of me being performance managed as I was off for a while at start of pregnancy with HG.....

You really shouldn't be making your decision based on the responses of strangers on an Internet forum. Why not do proper research - it's all available online. I'll link you to a blog post which has a list of useful information (US based but still relevant and you could always seek out equivalent UK info if you need to). Once you have this information you can make an informed choice ...

I got the flu jab this pregnancy because I'm having twins and they're going to be winter babies. I couldn't bare getting such a bad dose and not being able to medicate properly. It was a small pinch and I felt fine afterwards. I'm more nervous about the whooping cough vaccine because it is meant to really hurt.

Just to add, mum getting the flu jab also provides the baby with immunity during the first month or so. Which is another reason to take it. I had mine at 28 weeks - just slight soreness, also had it on the same day as whooping cough vaccine.

Sorry for the delay, here's the link I mentioned ... https://wellnessmama.com/119/flu-shot/

Good luck whatever decision you make

We have fairly low mortality in the uk. But records are kept of the deaths that have occurred among pregnant women and a high proportion are because the pregnant woman got the flu. (It was about 1/4 of the total when I saw the report).

Unless you are allergic, please do get vaccinated.

I had flu when pregnant. Luckily all turned out ok for me and DD, though I remember very little about her birth.

I would have taken the flu jab if it had been offered.

upsidedown - that's not research. Just a hippy conspiracy blog. Please get your information from actual research. FDA class B and C drugs are routinely prescribed to pregnant women as the need arises. The fact that no controlled studies are done is simply because no one runs studies on pregnant women - but there is no scientific reason to believe any of these cross the placental barrier.

@ZaphodBeeblerox - come on Zaphod, don't talk nonsense. The list of links she includes is relevant. The original poster needs to research, not go by the responses of strangers on mumsnet!

I'm with @ZaphodBeeblerox - wellnessmama is not a credible source. The OP should be speaking about her concerns to people qualified to read an interpret medical studies and journals, not reading random articles written by unqualified strangers on the Internet.

One of those links upside is to a well known anti vaccine site. I strongly suspect that the academic links will have been cherry picked ( I found wellness mamia on at least one list of known quackery sites). She also bangs on about thimerosol (which isn't in this year's vaccine) and her discussion about it shows a dangerous lack of knowledge on basic science.

If you must read the website but please approach with the knowledge that there is a clear anti vaccine agenda at play and treat everything she links to with that in mind.

You cant test vaccines on pregnant women in the sense that you can't inject a placebo in half then expose them all to a placebo. Studies are done using historical data and it's safer to have the jab than have the flu.
If you're not happy getting it ask other people to have it.
I had the flu jab while pregnant just had an itchy arm x

Also with @ZaphodBeeblerox - link is a pile of ill-informed poop with an obvious agenda.

Sorry typo above - inject with placebo then expose to flu.

Having the flu jab would show that you are being responsible about your health if your employers kicked up a fuss about your health issues while pregnant.

That said, your employers behaviour should not even figure in your thoughts about whether to have the jab or not. Much more important for you to protect the health of you and your unborn child and have it. This year's flu strain is causing concern in health circles and what is known is that getting flu when pg can be very bad.

Had flu jab when pregnant absolutely fine. I also now pay for a flu jab every year and never had any problems. Have had flu twice years ago and it was horrific - couldn't stand, crawling to bathroom on hands and knees, all I could do was sleep. I realised that was totally incompatible with looking after a baby/child! Your immune system is weakened when pregnant so you're more likely to catch something.

My dad used to get awful sinusitus every winter. This went on for at least 2 decades. Meant weeks off work. Happened every year without fail.
He started getting annual flu jabs & the sinusitus stopped completely, immediately. Never had it since (starting 20 yrs ago).

(2001) I had very painful & persistent sinusitis after one of my pregnancies, & the pharmacist refused to prescribe anything since I was breastfeeding.

I wish I had had the easy option of a flu jab in pregnancy!!

Every year they say " flu this year is the worst ever" and all that BS

I would politely decline.

I have had it for two winter pregnancies. Slightly achey arm and I think I had a bit of a runny nose the second time. I've just had my two year old vaccinated with no hesitation and I am considering paying for me to have it this year.

You have to remember that the flu isn't a bad cold; it kills people. And being very young, old, already ill or pregnant puts you in a more vulnerable group. Even having a bad cold in pregnancy isn't fun as ypu can't dose yourself up with all the usual decongestants etc. Many, many women have had the vaccine as it gives you some protection from a potentially fatal virus. Why wouldn't you?

Please get the flu jab. People say they've had flu frequently, but what they've had is a nasty cold virus. Real flu, as in Influenza, is a very serious illness and having worked in intensive care, I've seen fit, healthy, young people, who exercise intensively and maintain their health carefully, go from feeling absolutely great one minute, to being on a ventilator. It really is that bad.

I've never had the jab, or flu, before, but have had the jab this year because I'm pregnant.

I don't know anyone who has ever had any side effects except a slightly sore arm, but I know people who've been very ill with flu and if I can help reduce the chances of me catching it, I'd be mad not to.

I have one every year, including when I was pregnant. I usually do get a little bit ill for a day or two after but that's much better than having actual flu.

With regards to your job, look into your rights. I don't think they can discriminate against you for having HG in pregnancy.

Look people can make informed choices about vaccines. People can't make up their own facts. Your wellness mama blog is also just a stranger on the internet upsidedown and a dangerous one at that. Just because she links to a whole bunch of other sites doesn't make it valid. She talks about kinds of vaccines (with active flu) that are not given in the UK. And compounds (thimerasol) not used in this year's vaccine.

Unlike many other virii which depend on group immunity the largest source of danger for an unvaccinated pregnant woman is that she will catch the flu when pregnant or that her child will catch it at less than one month. And I've had the flu vaccine for 10 years, this is the first year that I've heard as much from health professionals about the flu being particularly virulent. So much so that even those with egg allergies are being advised to have it under close medical supervision rather than skip it as usual (also the isolation of allergy inducing compounds has improved as the years go by).

Fwiw - I'm a scientist, so think I'm slightly more qualified when it comes to strangers on the internet than some blogger with a clear antivax agenda. But I'm not even saying "trust me I'm a scientist" - only saying read up on it if you're not sure but read mainstream websites, not conspiracy fringe loons.

It's been shown to be between 3% (last year) and 50% effective. No vaccine is completely safe. Why not investigate and implement other strategies? For example optimum Vitamin D levels - this alone is thought to prevent flu. Likewise, Vitamin A. There are other ways to protect yourself which have no potentially dangerous side effects to you or your unborn child.

The flu virus mutates and adapts very quickly. The strain the vaccine is created for each year is rarely the same as that which is prevalent for the period following your flu shot.

Pregnant women could look at ways to ensure their immune system is functioning at its best so that flu isn't a threat.

No vaccine is completely safe. Why not investigate and implement other strategies? For example optimum Vitamin D levels - this alone is thought to prevent flu

If this was true, wouldn't the NHS be saving itself a shed load of money on expensive vaccination campaigns by just bunging everyone extra vitamin D?

Vitamin D doesn't prevent flu. You might as well take Smarties.

Vitamin A shouldn't be taken by pregnant women.

Pregnant women could look at ways to ensure their immune system is functioning at its best so that flu isn't a threat, absolutely. One of the best ways of doing this is getting vaccinated.