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?!

@ER20 glad to hear you didn’t suffer any side effects. I had mine the same day and was the same ☺️ Not long until you get to meet your baby!

I had mine this morning. Nearly burst into tears when I walked in!

The man who gave me the injection said it might not have any effect due to being pregnant 😩 Then the man before me full on fainted!

@MintGreenLife Glad to hear you didn’t either. Yep! I’m so ready! 😍

@Girlmama3 hmmm, I’ve done huge amounts of research and have never come across this, plus babies to those that were jabbed during pregnancy are being born with antibodies, so wouldn’t make any sense for babies to have antibodies to COVID and mum not to 🤔

@MintGreenLife Its made me quite cross now! The flu jab has an effect so why would this be any different. I hope he doesn't say it to anyone else.

@Girlmama3 I’d probably consider reporting him, what an unhelpful comment! It’s a stressful enough decision to then think you’ve gone through that for nothing. And this isn’t what the NHS are saying - that it ‘might not work’. Both the whooping cough jab and the flu vaccination are non-live vaccinations, just like the COVID jab, and as you already pointed out pregnant women are really encouraged to have the flu and whooping cough jabs, and which will be at a cost of millions to the NHS each year, so would make no sense to offer these and the COVID jab if they don’t work 🙄

@Girlmama3 what a horrible thing for him to say and, from what I've read, totally inaccurate! I've read several studies out of the US saying that pregnant women developed strong antibodies and in several cases stronger than non-pregnant women! He shouldn't be saying anything like that to you - irresponsible and totally misinformed. I agree with @MintGreenLife, perhaps think about reporting him.

I am wondering what is best to do at the moment too! I'm coming up to 30wks and have a Pfizer jab provisionally booked for Monday afternoon but not sure if i should go ahead with it. I do have a lot of social things lined up for my last 2mths of pregnancy and will be flying to Spain the week after next to spend a few days with my family whom I haven't been able to see since last year. It's so tough to know what is the best thing to do for our babies isn't!

I just wanted to say thank you to @MintGreenLife for starting this thread. I'm 28 weeks and booked in to have my vaccine this morning. I've been following this thread since it started and have found it really useful in helping to decide to just go ahead and get it done.

Despite that I've woken up this morning feeling really nervous and unsure again. Hearing of your emotional reaction at the test centre (probably will be me in a few hours!!) but that you still went through with it and feel happy with your decision is really helping motivate me to go today.

I too will report back on any side effects etc. for others to see. Hoping just for a sore arm!

I had my Pfizer yesterday morning and last night had diarrhoea, felt really sick, have a headache and my arm is killing.

Compared to dps reaction to az I think it's OK.

Good luck to everyone else x

@ConradKnightSocks awh I felt the exact same so totally normal. I woke up the morning of the jab and had a little cry first thing. I think for me it was mostly because even though I felt it was right for my baby and me, that still didn’t stop it feeling very scary. It’s a huge decision to make with so much emotion wrapped up in it! Hope you’re ok and whatever you do I’m sure will be the right thing for you ☺️ Xx

I’ve just booked mine for next week 😊

@Girlmama3 sorry to hear you’re feeling rubbish. Hope you feel better soon xx

I have just booked mine too for Friday, although there is a strong chance I may change my mind before then 🙈 trying to ensure it was the Pfizer and not AZ was an absolute nightmare, they don’t make it easy for us pregnant ones do they!
@Girlmama3 hope you feel better soon

Thank you. I feel ok now, just a sore arm! Definitely better then getting covid I'm sure x

I had my Pfizer jab on Thursday evening and I feel totally fine apart from a dead arm. I did go back and forth a lot about whether I should get the vaccine, and I was feeling quite emotional and teary on Thursday morning (damn pregnancy hormones!)
I did a lot of research and came to understand that the vaccine doesn't cross the placenta and behaves in a very, very similar way to other vaccines that are administered routinely in pregnancy such as flu and whooping cough. So while it's a new vaccine the science behind it is tried and tested.

I work from home and technically could just stay at home for the rest of my pregnancy but that doesn't remove the risk of picking up COVID in hospital. I've been flagged as being at risk of pre-eclampsia and foetal growth restriction, and suddenly I now have a LOT more scans and contact time at the hospital in the next few months than I'd anticipated. For my personal circumstances, I decided it made more sense to me to get vaccinated than not. Plus I've heard that high BP puts you at greater risk of getting seriously ill with COVID, so because of my likelihood of getting pre-eclampsia (which is a condition involving high BP) I figured it would be good to have the protection of a vaccine because I feel that things could potentially get really nasty and pose risks to the baby if I were unlucky enough to get infected. That's not a scientific opinion by the way, just my own reasoning.
Thanks OP for a very sensible thread and good luck to all the expecting mamas on here, whatever choice you make

@Olinguita you sound really similar to me, and like you’ve gone through similar reasonings ☺️ I’m also high risk for pre eclampsia because of family history and have been on aspirin since 12 weeks to try and reduce risk. I also work from home, but my thinking was that all it takes is one exposure, so far better to limit that risk as much as possible by having the vaccine, plus I came to the same conclusions as you’ve mentioned in your research - non-live vaccine, shouldn’t cross the placenta etc. 3 days after my jab and I 100% feel like it was the right thing for me to do x

@MintGreenLife really interesting to hear from someone in the exact same situation as me! I've also got a family history of pre-eclampsia and literally every woman in the family seems to have had it. I do wish that midwives/GP could have given me a bit more advice and direction in my decision about the vaccine other than "it's up to you". I feel like everyone I spoke to was dodging the question or fobbing me off, I guess to avoid liability. I usually prefer to trust the opinion of medical professionals rather than doing my own research online because I have zero background in science beyond biology GCSE, but this time I felt I had no choice. Sigh. But anyway, I'm 100% happy with my decision now. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!

@Olinguita Are you taking aspirin also? I’m hoping because of the precautionary measure put in place I won’t develop it, or only mildly 🤞🏼 I was the same, nobody could give me a straight answer really, although I was told by my consultant and the GP at the vaccination centre that it was safe x

@MintGreenLife I've not been advised to take aspirin yet, just been given some vague advice to watch salt intake. Hoping to get some more clarity from my midwife next week when I see her next week! At the moment my BP is normal-to-slightly low so fingers crossed it's going to stay that way for a while longer x

Hey. Just thought I'd post this link to the royal college of gynaecology and obstetrics. This is the guidance/ information your gp and midwife should be using to support you in deciding if the benefits outweigh the risks. Hopefully it helps people decide what they want to do.

www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/coronavirus-covid-19-pregnancy-and-womens-health/covid-19-vaccines-and-pregnancy/covid-19-vaccines-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding/

@Olinguita ah that sucks, as soon as I mentioned my family history I was advised to start taking aspirin at my booking appointment, I think perhaps it needs to be taken from early on (12 weeks) as a preventative, which is maybe why it’s not been mentioned to help you now, although that’s just me assuming you’re quite far along x

@mintgreenlife Am 23wks at the moment. interesting that you got told to take aspirin early on and I hope it will do the trick for you. I'm going to ask my midwife for more details when I see her this week, fingers crossed she will have some helpful suggestions

Hi all, Am 31 +1 weeks and had the Pfizer vaccine this morning. Was a bit nervous but both my GP and ObyGyn advised to take it. My arm is getting sore at the injection site, but no worse than the whooping cough vaccine and I've a slight headache (though the baby was kicking me all night so didn't get much rest and when I did fall to sleep my 21 month old woke at 5:30am - so this might not be related!)

For anyone who did get side effects, when did they kick in and how long did they last? Just want to know when I can relax and stop waiting for something to happen!!

How many of you had the phizer jab? As far as I can tell NHS website is advising that you have phizer instead of astra zenica.
No-one can help with telling me how to get phizer, GP says call 119, 119 says call GP. Also been told to book and see what vaccine they're using on the day? So how many times am I supposed to turn down a vaccine because it's not phizer?
Not sure what to do, whether to go ahead and have astra zenica or not?? Confused.com