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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

The flu jab

32 replies

NotAsGreenAsCabbageLooking · 21/06/2018 11:56

I’m just not sure about it...

I’m not an anti-vaxxer at all, me and my kids have had all other jabs, but I’m not convinced with this one..

Has everyone else opted to have this whole pregnant, have there been any side effects?

Has anyone decided against it?

OP posts:
Original poster
NotAsGreenAsCabbageLooking · 21/06/2018 11:56

*while pregnant

OP posts:
ew1990 · 21/06/2018 12:00

I decided against it - had every other jab and DD is fully vaccinated and I know the flu jab doesn't give you the flu but every other time I've had it I've been really ill - couldn't deal with maybe being ill again as well as exhausted

QueenAravisOfArchenland · 21/06/2018 12:03

I had it. The flu can have very, very serious effects on the baby if you catch it during pregnancy. No regrets.

Also, to reiterate, the flu jab cannot give you the flu. Your immune system will respond to it (that is the point of it after all) and this can cause you to feel under the weather for a few days, but that is buckets better than catching actual flu.

AvoidingDM · 21/06/2018 12:14

With DS1 I was like yourself debating and dithering, never had flu. Why has it been introduced etc
Bad bad decision. I got flu and pumonia spent a week in hospital on oxygen. Lots of drugs antibiotics and tamiflu. My life was on the line. Lucky for me I started to respond to antibiotics before they risked a premature c-section to take pressure off my lungs.

DS2 got it asap. No ill effects.
It was one of the first things my mum asked after I told her I was expecting. I don't think she could cope going through that again.

Wolfiefan · 21/06/2018 12:16

I have been very ill with flu a couple of times when not pregnant. Always got the flu jab in pregnancy. You can't have side effects to a dead vaccine.

BlueBug45 · 21/06/2018 12:17

I never got it and wasn't encouraged to unlike all the other vaccinations.

LisaSimpsonsbff · 21/06/2018 12:18

I had it, I think at around 10 weeks (which was height of flu season so they were pushing it hard). Absolutely zero side effects. Flu in pregnancy can be very serious, so I didn't hesitate to get it.

SiolGhoraidh · 21/06/2018 12:20

I did, and had no side-effects.

Last time I had flu it knocked me out for nearly a month. The thought of going through that while pregnant and unable to take most of the usual meds had me practically banging down the door of the surgery for an appointment.

caoraich · 21/06/2018 12:21

I had it before I even knew I was pregnant (healthcare worker) and had zero side effects. I have seen pregnant women very unwell with flu and I'm glad I did have it.

LilQueenie · 21/06/2018 12:21

I didn't get because although it was tested it hadn't actually been tested on pregnant women.

You can't have side effects to a dead vaccine.

You bloody well can. Where do you get your information from?

Original poster
NotAsGreenAsCabbageLooking · 21/06/2018 12:24

I had flu once as a kid... I can’t remember ever feeling that ill since, literally almost dead on the sofa... couldn’t walk, eat, etc. I was just delirious for days.

I’ve never actually even known (personally) anyone else to actually have flu - I’m not including ‘flu like virus’ in that obvs!

I’m leaning more towards having it that not... I’m just not 100% like I am with other vaccines.

Flu mutates.. a vaccine only protects against one strain surely? The effects of the vaccine are not as well known, I know you can’t catch flu from it... but I’m not sure I trust that it doesn’t have other effects..?

OP posts:
LisaSimpsonsbff · 21/06/2018 12:26

I didn't get because although it was tested it hadn't actually been tested on pregnant women.

I don't know exactly what you mean by 'tested on' - pregnant women are never part of the test cohort for any medical treatment, so almost all data on what's safe in pregnancy comes from other sources - but the NHS quite categorically say:

Studies have shown that it's safe to have the flu vaccine during any stage of pregnancy, from the first few weeks up to your expected due date.

QueenAravisOfArchenland · 21/06/2018 12:29

You can't have side effects to a dead vaccine.

Well, you can, technically, because the point of a vaccine is to "teach" your body to recognise and destroy a pathogen so it does so promptly when it meets the real thing. Plenty of people get a temperature after the vaccine because your body's response to an infection is to turn the heat up and try and burn the infection out (so to speak). But because it's not actually a live replicating virus, it's not half so bad as the actual flu.

although it was tested it hadn't actually been tested on pregnant women

This is a really stupid reason not to have it. Nothing is tested on pregnant women because drug trials are never run on pregnant women, ever. Paracetamol isn't tested on pregnant women. The drugs they give you in labour aren't tested on pregnant women. Water isn't tested on pregnant women. However, adverse outcomes are still tracked, and no serious adverse outcomes have been found despite thousands and thousands of pregnant women getting the jab annually.

The flu, on the other hand, kills pregnant women and their babies. And even when it doesn't kill them there are long term effects. There have been a lot of studies done on the people who were in utero during the 1918 flu pandemic and demographically they stick out a mile, with earlier deaths, higher rates of chronic health conditions, lower educational achievement, etc.

QueenAravisOfArchenland · 21/06/2018 12:32

Flu mutates.. a vaccine only protects against one strain surely?

The annual vaccine protects against the several strains expected to be most prevalent that flu season. This is not a perfect science, but it lowers your chances of getting flu significantly. And again, no significant adverse effects have been found despite widespread usage for quite some time.

The benefits of getting the vaccine significantly outweigh the drawbacks.

LilQueenie · 21/06/2018 12:32

Put it this way. they dont test on babies or pregnant women so really they can't tell for sure any reactions to an unborn baby in the womb. they give the vaccination then off you go. Completely different to testing in controlled environments.

Spam88 · 21/06/2018 12:34

I had it when I was quite early on, six weeks or something like that I think. No problems at all, or any other year I've had it since I started working in the NHS. Flu can cause miscarriage so it was a no brainer for me.

0310Star · 21/06/2018 12:36

From someone that had flu twice during my first trimester, I'd tell anyone to get it!!
I'm quite prone to flu, get it every year pretty much but never had the vaccine as always worried it may make me ill. when I found out I was pregnant there wasn't enough time between finding out and getting my jab before the flu hit.
Flu when not pregnant is bad, flu when pregnant is absolutely horrific!! I ended up being ill for 2 months virtually as my body just couldn't battle it, nor could doctors give me anything to help, and to be honest it has really tainted my entire first pregnancy as I've just not felt like 100% since- am now 36+2.

LilQueenie · 21/06/2018 12:37

However, adverse outcomes are still tracked, and no serious adverse outcomes have been found despite thousands and thousands of pregnant women getting the jab annually.

they have a different strain of it in each shot dependant on what strain is expected that year. Technically not 100% the same vaccine. GSK had to pay out loads for adverse effects for their swine flu vaccine.

QueenAravisOfArchenland · 21/06/2018 12:38

Yes, LilQueenie, but we know for sure that flu DOES do bad things to the baby in the womb, and we also know that if the jab did half the amount of damage the flu does we'd know already, because monitoring would pick it up. It will never be possible to test things directly on pregnant women and/or babies in utero because that is unethical. But we are really very sure, as sure as we can be without having direct trials as an option, that it is not a problem.

Medically it's a no-brainer. You can opt out if you like, it's your gamble to take, but if you are going to avoid everything that isn't tested in pregnancy then I hope you're planning on a 100% natural birth, and nothing for your headache either.

Peanut91 · 21/06/2018 12:40

I found out I was pregnant right at the end of the flu season and my dr recommended that it wasnt worth having at that point.

I am due Mid October and when I had my whopping cough vaccine the nurse suggested that I have the flu jab at the end of September when they get the first batch of vaccines. She said although I will be right at the end of pregnancy she said that it would be horrible to have the flu and a newborn. I agree with her (having previously had the flu as a kid) so will be getting it then

gryffen · 21/06/2018 12:58

Had it in last pregnancy and this one and never had an issue apart from a sore arm.

I did catch a cold at same time (big difference between bad cold and flu) and I was down for about a week with bad cough etc but never had flu.

Wolfiefan · 21/06/2018 13:06

Queen I meant the "I've been really ill" comments. A bit of a temperature is far preferable to flu!

Original poster
NotAsGreenAsCabbageLooking · 21/06/2018 13:11

Thanks all, some very good posts here that have provided a lot of food for thought 👌

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AvoidingDM · 21/06/2018 13:21

For those who question what has / hasn't been tested on pregnant ladies. Nothing is tested nobody wants to take risk of testing and damaging babies.

However if you are REALLY ill, life on the line, lungs full of fluid, heart racing, kidneys struggling you don't question the drugs you are being given regardless of pregnancy.

I asked the dentist recently why my DS has white spots on his adult teeth, he asked if I'd had antibiotics in pregnancy or if he'd had them as a infant. Yes is the answer.
If that's the only damage to him or me because of my questioning then we have been very lucky.

AvoidingDM · 21/06/2018 13:25

QueenAravisOfArchenland what other damage does flu do to babies?

He seems healthy except white spots on teeth that are blamed on antibiotics.

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