Covid Vaccine at 27 Weeks - what to do?!

[MintGreenLife]

I was called by my GP today to say they have been instructed to offer the jab to all pregnant patients. I'm 27+3 today, so just about to enter the third trimester when it's suggested that you can suffer more serious illness with Covid. I'm due on the 1st of August.

I am completely torn about what to do. On the one hand knowing I have some protection against covid and that maybe the baby would have some protection too would be a real weight off my mind, but at the same time, how on earth can I be sure that having the jab might not have long term implications for baby, surely there is no way of knowing?!

I work from home, get click and collect for food shop, order most things online. Have been meeting up with family outdoors since it's been allowed, in laws are jabbed. Only main concern at the moment is my SIL is expecting and due in 2 weeks, and so main possible risk would be from DH holding his new niece/nephew, who may very well be held by lots of other people! I myself have no underlying health conditions, normal BMI etc. This is my first baby.

Would love to know what everyone else is thinking/will be doing?!

@Daffodil21 well done for getting on with it ☺️ I still haven’t decided! Will you let me know how you feel in the next few days please? Hubby thinks I probably shouldn’t have it, but I’m leaning towards having it still. I’ve had to fight off tears several time’s today while trying to work it all out 😥

@MintGreenLife yes of course I will. In a way it's almost a relief I've had it so I can stop thinking about it now. I just really hope nothing is discovered in next few years. I felt the same the other day, it's not a nice thing to decide!

@Daffodil21 I found a helpful article today that explains how non-live vaccinations work which has given me a bit more confidence in the safety of it. I’m sure you’ve done the right thing. Hopefully you’ll sleep well tonight - it’s been keeping me up 😩

@MintGreenLife I think I've read that one too. Starting to get a bit of a sore arm now, but I did after the whooping cough one too so hoping it just stays like this! I can't remember when you said yours was booked for now? I've got a midwife app on Tuesday where she'll check the heartbeat and then I've got a growth scan the following Monday, but I expect yours will have been booked before then? I joined that Facebook group the PP suggested and there are lots of posts on there from women who'd had both Pfizer vaccines and have gone on to have healthy scans and healthy babies, which did reassure me a bit more x

@Daffodil21 I had the same after whooping cough, but no sore arm after flu vaccine! Hopefully that’s the only side effect you get ☺️ Mine’s booked for 3pm Saturday, and I’ve got my 28 week midwife appointment on Friday, although I’ll be nearly 29 weeks. I did have a consultant appointment yesterday and I asked him about the jab, he said that as it’s a non-live vaccine it can’t impact baby in anyway and is safe, but he also said that cases are so low right now the risk of getting Covid is low anyway, so that wasn’t especially helpful. I did have my first bump measurement though and I’m measuring big and off the chart 😂 will be interesting to see if my midwife finds the same when she measures on Friday. I’ll ask her too what she advises about the jab. I joined that group also, but haven’t gone through it in too much detail yet x

@MintGreenLife glad you managed to get some advice from you consultant, that's reassuring. I called my GP but they weren't interested and I couldn't get passed reception, also tried my consultant but she's on hol and the stand in never called me back, and my midwife just said she couldn't advise for or against.

Cases are rising here. We are now in the worst area in the whole of scotland, even though we had been one of the best for most of the pandemic. The government then decided to fast track all 18+ year olds to try and control numbers a bit better. There are now 19 cases in my small town, when there were 7 2 days ago so if I didn't have it I would definitely be feeling way more vulnerable over the coming months, and my husband can't work from home. I've done it now, so kind of glad I can stop going over it!

Glad everything seems to be going well for you! I've not had a bump measurement yet (currently 27 weeks) but I expect I will be on the larger side too - this evening my husband said 'you've definitely got more pot-bellied over the last few days' - thanks darling... 😂

Lots of people in that group have also said their babies have tested positive for antibodies which is good to know. I wish that kind of testing and monitoring was done here. I would have been happy to take part in any research given that I'm having it anyway

@Daffodil21 I had a sore arm for a couple of days after the Pfizer but touch wood no other side effects - I got it on Sunday .
@MintGreenLife I also feel a bit of relief having had it now. It's a hard decision to make though. But the evidence from Ireland about placentitis was a push for me to get it . Denmark had stories in their news yesterday saying they are finding the same thing though it's still early days it very much seems to be linked to cases where the woman catches Covid- even if it is a mild case. But either way you have to make the decision that's right for you!
I'm 28weeks today and baby is currently moving about which is reassuring. Midwife appt on Tuesday and then consultant appt the following Wednesday. Hopefully all will be fine

@MintGreenLife I hope you are feeling ok about this, I understand it's a hard decision! Others have said lots of helpful things, but I wanted to address your concern about vague wording like "thought to" and "unlikely". I am a scientist (not in a medical field though) and this sort of wording is just how all research works. A good scientist should never say anything is 100%. There are always little caveats, because we recognise that our knowledge is always uncertain. There is always a chance that we could be wrong about anything, but that is not unique to covid vaccines, that is true for everything.

We don't know for certain the long-term effects of very commonly used medications in pregnancy, like cyclizine or even paracetamol, but they are important to use anyway, to prevent outcomes which are known to be risky like HG. We don't know for certain the long-term effects of small amounts of caffeine in pregnancy - evidence points to it being fine, but we can't be completely sure. Technically we don't 100% know the long-term effects of anything at all in pregnancy, even wearing socks or washing the dishes. And that fact will not go away no matter how much you study it, because 100% is simply not attainable for anything except mathematical proofs.

It can be so hard to live with this uncertainty! But it is also inescapable, and I don't think it goes away when the baby is born, so eventually you have to figure out how to live with it. For me I find it helpful to think about known vs unknown risks. There is a known risk of covid to both me and the baby, and that could potentially be very bad. There is no known risk of the vaccines. There is normal uncertainty around unknown risks, but that isn't going to get much smaller unless we wait for years and years to study all the kids through to adulthood, at which point the pandemic should be over anyway. There is also no known theoretical mechanism by which the vaccines could cause harm to the baby, so if they did cause harm it would be through a mechanism currently unknown to science. Not impossible, because science can never know everything, but as good as you can hope for at this stage.

I had my first dose of Pfizer yesterday (what a whirlwind - found out at 10am that my GP was prioritising pregnant women, got on a cancellation/extras list at 12pm, got a call at 2pm, jab in arm at 2:35). I'm 28 years old, and 34 weeks pregnant. Today I have a sore arm and might be a little more tired than usual. The baby is moving around just as much as ever, and I am so relieved that he will have at least some protection from the virus. I feel like a good mum for making this decision for him (and I understand that others might feel differently, and am in no way suggesting that women who decline the vaccine are bad mums, but this decision is right for me and I feel sure of it).

I hope that you can feel ok about this, whatever you decide, and that you and your baby are healthy and happy

@kingfisher657 your post is really reassuring, thank you!

@MintGreenLife I started the thread last night but yours is still going so I thought I’d update you that I called the covid telephone line (wales) today and am now booked in for my vaccine this Sunday. I’ve been told it will definitely either be Pfizer or moderna. I spent hours on that Facebook page last night reading people’s posts and that really helped with my decision too. Good luck with whatever you decide. I truly believe it is a very personal decision that you have to make dependent on your circumstances.

@Daffodil21 be confident in your decision and that you've done the right thing for you and baby :) sounds like cases are worrying in your area. There are 30 per 100,000 here, and there's only 200,000 living in our county, plus we live quite rurally.

Haha husband's have an interesting way with words sometimes! I'm sure your bump is lovely. How are you feeling today?

@Smurf123 I do think I may regret it if I cancel it, or be left feeling very uneasy for some time after, but I think I'll feel uneasy in the days following the jab too. The cases from Ireland do scare me and that's been playing on my mind. Every now and then I think 'right, I'm going to get it' and then five minutes later I'm second guessing myself again.

@kingfisher657 thanks so much for your super helpful and lovely reply. What you have said makes a lot of sense and helps with my understanding of the current terminology. When I think of my baby boy it almost makes me feel guilty that I have to make this decision, as soon almost everyone in the country will be vaccinated, and so in the future there may be no need to vaccinate pregnant women, so in the end very few babies may be exposed to the vaccination in the womb, but then equally I understand that it may transpire that we need annual top up jabs anyway, and that they may very well end up being recommended in pregnancy just like the flu jab. I'm an over thinker...can you tell ha.

Well done on the speedy decision making. The same thing happened to me and they wanted me to go in for the jab the following day, but that wasn't enough time for me to decide. Right now I'd say I'm thinking I'll go ahead, but that changes every 5 mins!

@mariebaby3 well done on making your decision :) that's great you've been booked in. I have mine on Saturday, maybe we could keep each other up to date with how we are feeling post-jab? x

@MintGreenLife yes absolutely I will update you on Sunday! Feeling quite nervous still but just glad to have made the decision and hopefully come next week we’ll both be feeling a lot more at peace with it all

@MintGreenLife I actually feel happy about my decision today. I hope that doesn't change! I just have a sore arm today, but it's only sore if I lift it up and it's totally manageable. DH is the same, hoping it stays this way!

Haha immediately afterwards he was all ' I didn't mean pot bellied. That was the wrong word' 😂 I definitely feel more pregnant and less whale like now. I was on meds at the beginning which caused weight gain and bloating, even a round moonface and things. I felt like a whale then even though I was early on. Now I just feel pregnant which is nice!

Felt some movement last night and this morning which is good. I've not been feeling much at all as I have an anterior placenta, so I was worried he might go quiet but he hasn't.

Thank you for your post @kingfisher657 that was very reassuring

Just going to plonk myself here and join you @MintGreenLife with the dithering!!

I’m 38 and 22 weeks pregnant. I’ve been told I can now book my jab but I’m so torn.

I can go from being certain about getting it, to no way in hell am I getting it, in the space of 10 minutes 🙈

What is the Facebook group or page that you’ve mentioned? I wouldn’t mind reading more stories of women that have actually had it.

I’m just terrified of making the wrong decision for my baby boy. We went through several losses to get him and I’d just never forgive myself if I made the wrong decision...having the jab and then it affecting the baby in some way, or not having it and catching Covid and becoming really ill and it affecting the baby.

My head hurts. I almost want my midwife or consultant to just tell me what to do instead of it being my decision 😭

@MintGreenLife just in reply to your comment about cancelling, it’s worth checking with your health board what their procedure is. Mine was originally meant to be this afternoon but I cancelled it on Monday and had absolutely no issue rebooking for this Sunday this morning. I do regret cancelling my original one but I think that feeling was my push that the decision I made wasn’t sitting right with me.

I’m 26 weeks and just had my jab this morning (Pfizer). Totally happy to do so - we will all be grand. Hope it goes well for you on Saturday OP. xx

kingfisher657 this is the most informative, considered, interesting post on this I've seen. Thanks.

Im booked in for Pfizer next week. I'll be 37 weeks- so is it even "worth it" at this late stage as vaccine could take 2 weeks to fully kick in?
Im 40 and have developed diabetes so these added risk factors with third trimester/catching Covid are worrying. Especially if I need to be induced and could end up on a shared ward so likelihood of catching goes up slightly too? Just not sure what to do.

Really glad my post was helpful to a few people :)

@sundowners if I were in your position, I would get it now. Even if the vaccine doesn't fully kick in by the time you give birth, if you have it now you won't have to deal with any of the faff of getting to an appointment at the same time as looking after a newborn. It's also very possible you'll go past 39 weeks and there will be lots of time for immunity to build up after all. And I think there is some benefit from the jab even before 2 weeks (but I don't know for sure).

I asked my midwife if there was any medical concern with having the jab too close to giving birth (because originally I thought I'd be in that position given my age group), but she said it was completely fine - reasonable worst case is you have a sore arm in labour!

@MintGreenLife Don't worry, I am an overthinker too!! I just did my overthinking in advance, and then when the opportunity came up I'd already made up my mind...

Thanks kingfisher657 - really appreciate your advice!

@mariebaby3 great thank you, I will update you on Saturday if I do go ahead, I'm fairly certain I will, but in deciding that I'm feeling generally quite upset today as am just so fearful of making the wrong decision, but we all have to decide one way or another and there's no way of knowing what's best really. I think I can already tell that I'll regret it if a cancel my appointment, so that's helpful in a way. When I was first offered it it was the very next day so I turned that down, and then the next appointment was 10 days away, so assume it would be a similar wait if I cancelled.

@Daffodil21 good, I'm so glad you're feeling good about it, and that you haven't had any other side effects. Oh bless you, the side effects of the meds don't sound nice at all! I have an anterior placenta too, which is a pain sometimes. A few weeks ago he turned feet down for about 5 days and I could hardly feel him at all. Think my placenta must be quite low, as I can feel strong movement from a few inches below my belly button up, but then everything lower down feels muffled.

@Moominmiss it's completely impossible isn't it! I'm the exact same - I just want someone to say 'you should have this' or 'it's too risky, leave it'. That would make things so much easier. I had similar in my first trimester where I was advised to take antibiotics for unsymptomatic BV, and when I looked at the NICE guidelines it said not to treat it unless there were symptoms, and the antibiotics I had said on the leaflet not to take in pregnancy. BV can be dangerous in pregnancy, and I sought further advice from my GP and a pharmacist both of which told me it was up to me. After a lot of reading into the antibiotics online and finding the info said it was 'generally thought to be safe' in pregnancy I decided to take them in the end, but I agonised over the decision for a few days. This feels like that all over again, only worse really. I think I've decided I'll go ahead and have the jab, got a couple of days to make sure I'm confident in my decision.

@WetMayDayheyhey thank you :) well done for being decisive and getting on with it!

@sundowners I had a chat to my SIL who is due in just over a week about what she would do, and she said even now at this stage of pregnancy she would jump at the opportunity as may still be enough time to pass antibodies onto baby/protect you when you give birth. Something that's factored into my decision making is the fact that my baby needs me to be fit and healthy to take care of him and give him the best start. Could well be worth doing even at 37 weeks xx

@kingfisher657 I wish I had thought about it before. I kind of decided I wouldn't get it, but then I didn't think I would be offered it so soon, and so that's thrown me, plus when I decided I wouldn't have it I wasn't particularly well informed on how the jab works etc. I'm fairly certain I will go ahead now, but that doesn't stop me feeling absolutely terrified!

@Moominmiss here's the link to the Facebook group too: www.facebook.com/groups/433459851127376/

hi
Just to say I had my pfizer first jab yesterday at 18 weeks, aside from a sore arm all seems ok.

@kingfisher657 your post is very reassuring based on my own research especially about the actual risk vs a hypothetical one.

my worry was not having it and the country opens up again soon and the cases rise (as people are mixing) that if i got covid in 3rd trimester how would that impact baby and if it had to be delivered prematurely to enable me to have medicine if hospitalised. I feel I made the right decision for me, but know that it is not right for everyone and now the decision has been made i feel relieved.

@Missreginafalange hoping that I feel the same if I do go ahead - relieved after having the jab. I’m worried about this too. I know we have the jab this year, but when you look at last year it wasn’t until July that hospitality started opening up again and by early September cases were on the rise again. I’ll be a nervous wreck if that happens and I decided not to have the jab. That’s what makes it so hard, there’s no way to know what will happen over the coming months, and I’m in my third trimester already x

I've decided to have mine. Originally it was earlier this week but I cancelled it and then regretted it. I'm late in my 3rd trimester but still with enough time for antibodies to build up and get to baby hopefully, which is my main driver for going ahead. Also, I don't want to risk catching covid on a shared postnatal ward in 5 weeks time after a month of lockdown easing (me or the baby).
My GP told me it was safe to go ahead and have it because its not a live vaccine and so did another doctor I spoke to. Also a pregnant relative's consultant (after she agreed to have it) told her he was glad because she would be crazy to turn it down given all the risks to pregnant women with covid (although she has a couple of underlying conditions which make her a lot more vulnerable to covid so that made her decision easier).
I feel good about the decision to have the jab knowing that science experts around the world are saying there is no know reason why the vaccine would harm the baby (and I decided they probably know a lot more about this stuff than I did, the girl who barely scraped a C for GCSE Science ).
I'm having the jab tomorrow, I'll let you know what my side-effects are.

@MyBabyBoyBlue well done on making a decision, I think I’m joining you and going to go ahead on Saturday. Please keep us up to date with how you are feeling after the jab. I think I also got a C at GCSE science 😅 x

MintGreenLife thanks so much for taking the time to ask your sis. I was reading this thread while sat waiting to see my consultant in maternity yesterday! I've been booked in for an induction in 2 weeks time and you need to come in for a Covid test 3 days before/isolate, this together with the fact I'll be in overnight most likely on mixed ward has really swayed me far more now to getting my jab next week- along with the great advice here.