How many of you didn't bother with the flu jab?

[ByeBabyBatshit]

I have a quick question...

I'm nearly 16 weeks pregnant. At my booking-in appointment, my midwife advised me to have a flu jab. As I'm a pretty healthy person who rarely has anything more than a cold, and as it's been a busy time at work over the last few weeks and has been hard to make time to go to doctor's appointments, I didn't bother getting the jab. However, now in my open-plan office, everyone is dropping like flies, although - touch wood- I'm fine. My commute to work also involves a long time on trains, those well-known breeding grounds for germs. I'm now starting to think I should have got the flu jab after all. Should I get a jab now or is it too late? Should I be worried?

It's never too late to get the flu jab. Pregnant women who get flu are more likely to need hospital care and to need artificial ventilation, are more likely to die and more likely to have stillbirths. Sorry to be blunt.

(I had the flu jab just before (literally, within days) I became pregnant with DS and then when I was 10 weeks with DD.)

I was offered it and the Swine Flu one in October 2009 at the height of the Swine Flu outrage when I was pregnant with DS. I politely declined it, DS was born in Feb 2010 both of us were grand.

Am pregnant again (due in August 2012) and I declined the flu jab again. No one has mentioned Swine Flu to me this time, just 'flu' in general.

Three pregnancies and no flu jabs so far... I have not even thought about it! Midwives have never mentioned it... but if they did I would say no

I didn't have the flu jab while pregnant 18 months ago, it wasn't offered and i'm not sure I'd have accepted it for mostly the same reasons as the op, however I caught flu at 38 weeks pg, and while we were all ok in the end I was hospitalised for 24 hrs and then on daily watch as my waters seemed to disappear, my dd was born a week later - my other two were both pretty late. So I would advise to have the injection.

Whoops a serious lack of punctuation in that!!!

I was also pregnant during the height of the big swine flu outbreak. Despite my entire team coming down with swine flu at some point or other, I was the only one who didn't get ill. I chose to just take care with hand washing, not putting fingers near mucous membranes (mouth, nose, ears) unless washed, etc.

It's personal choice - I don't think the flu vaccine is dangerous in pregnancy, I just didn't feel it was necessary for me.

Didn't have it, despite strong advice from all quarters to have it. It probably would have been fine to have it, I just never got around to it (and also hate needles!).

2 pregnancies and no flu jabs here either. Didn't catch the flu either time (eldest DC is 2.8) and was working full-time in busy office, taking bus to work, etc, in middle of winter.

Hello - it is a really personal thing. I used to be a medical rep visiting up to 15 docs surgeries a day and did so pregnant throughout the Swine Flu furore a couple of years ago. I was fit, healthy and took extra precautions quite serioulsy (washing hands, not touching door handles etc). I went to one surgery who had swabbed 200 'swine flu' cases, and not one was actually swine flu, just bad colds or the more common sorts of flu. I had also read a book about vaccines in early pregnancy which concerned me. My husband has asthama, and I nagged him to get it, not that he did, so I am not really against it, I just would have rather not had it. I am now P again, and the jab has not been offered or suggested by my MW and we are coming out of the flu season so def won't get it this time either. I was lucky, I never had to use public transport and I worked on my own as a rep so I had control over where i went etc. I am not working this time around, and live in a rural area so not close contact on a daily basis. YOu have to decide whether you could cope with your decision, should you get it and be one of the unlucky ones who needs hospital care.

The risks of flu are far too great. I had it both times with no hesitation. This year the antibodies for 'swine flu' are built into the normal flu jab so if you have had it you are covered. Of course the papers don't cover it as it is not an interesting story, but one of the reasons that we haven't hjad a major outbreak this winter is becuase people have been sensible about being vaccinated which has reduced infection and undoudtedly saved lives. The good news stories are never reported

It hasn't been offered to me yet. I'm 13 weeks