What are pregnant women meant to do after July 19th?

[Narwhalsh]

Just that really. If you don’t have both doses of vaccine are you planning on getting on with life as much as you can or are you planning on sticking with a more restricted lifestyle? And if you do have both doses, do you still feel vulnerable?

Are pregnant women still classified as clinically vulnerable?

Currently 23 weeks, and planning on business as usual tbh. I had the first vaccine at the start of January as I work for the nhs then found out I was pregnant so couldn’t get the second dose as per guidelines at the time. That’s now changed of course but I’ve decided to wait until a bit later to get the second dose, if I do at all while still pregnant.
I’ve been working in a medical centre the whole time, have been socialising within the ‘rules’ (more or less!) and haven’t ever even thought about shutting myself off from the world, nor will I. I’m looking forward to no longer having to wear a mask, my sickness has been horrific and I am suffering badly with low blood pressure and fainting, not helped by the feeling of breathlessness and overheating caused by masks.
To each their own, of course, and we must all do as we see fit but I’m very much looking forward to the last fo the restrictions being lifted.

Agreed on masks being very difficult in the summer whilst pregnant.

I really feel they need to update the guidelines for pregnant women who have been vaccinated, currently it pretty much sounds like they advise shielding in the third trimester, but surely that shouldn’t be the case of vaccinated.

I'm 31 weeks and plan to live my life as normal. It's been disrupted enough and I don't plan on hiding away until I give birth.

I'm also waiting until after I give birth to be vaccinated.

I do understand that some people will want to be more cautious though and I respect that but it's not for me.

37 weeks and was looking forward to being able to go out more when baby was here and to some indoor things like mum and baby groups.
Now I shall have to stay in longer untill I have had both jabs.(mid October probably)

Wouldn't have felt so bad if they had kept masks and social distancing

I’m attending the Challenge Cup Final next Saturday (17th) at Wembley as my team is playing, I’ll be 29 weeks pregnant, can’t bloody wait! I’m worried about how tired I’ll be more than anything

I'm only 5 weeks but am CV (severe asthma) so have had both doses of the vaccine. I struggle to wear a mask for more than a few minutes so am still avoiding crowds/supermarkets etc, so will probably just continue with this. I'm careful but not paranoid, and I have 20 month DS who obviously isn't vaccinated so need to stay healthy to look after him.

[quote Narwhalsh]@PurpleFlower1983 were there specific (personal) medical reasons you were advised against it? Otherwise isn’t that advice going against the RCOG guidance?[/quote]
No not at all! In fact I’m over 35 with a high BMI so should definitely be recommended it. There were 2 midwives present when I first asked and both said it was personal choice but shook their heads emphatically at the same time so that was that. I then saw a consultant fully expecting them to tell me to have it (I was around 32 weeks) and she said personal choice but as I wasn’t too far off probably best to wait. I know it’s against the guidance but when you have three professionals telling you the same thing it does make you stop and reconsider. I also know others have had different advice.

I'm 39 weeks and not yet vaccinated and have no idea what to do.
I feel that either way - getting vaccine, or not, and if anything happens to me or baby I'll never forgive myself.
I really want baby out now, the longer she's in the more risk my body could do something wrong and she could get into trouble, but my midwife won't let me have stretch n sweep til later.

I might try and get a jab next week as it takes 2-3 weeks to get immunity, so hoping baby comes out before the effect is in place - hopefully protecting her from any side effects as I'm very nervous about not being vaccinated - the risk of stillbirth and other impacts of covid is SO HIGH but was called for jab so close to baby birth I thought I'd wait.
I now wish I'd pushed to get it sooner, as within a week of due date feels odd.

With numbers skyrocketing I've got so nervous - and am almost isolating (only going shops early in the morning when they open, sanitising all the time, no coffee etc)...

I worked in an office and felt safe for a really long time - but suddenly feel very, very nervous, especially as people are acting SO recklessly and getting close to people already. I'm very low risk generally - but suddenly feel like it's all going to go wrong and I wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened.

I've been doing lateral flow tests twice a week and continuing to, even tho reducing contact. Thinking of trying to get a PCR test before isolating to know for sure I've not got covid and then not leaving the house til we give birth.

Once baby born - hopefully before 19th I'm terrified about people meeting her, going outside, going to groups, etc.

I've friends and family who won't be vaccinated, so unfortunately they won't be able to hold my baby unless they do a negative test.
I genuinely feel sick with nerves all the time.

In essense - I have no idea what to do for the best, feel scared, sad, and generally on edge.

Fun!

I'm fully vaccinated and have been for months now thankfully so I don't really feel vulnerable to be honest. I'll still continue to take reasonable precautions to be safe however.

I'm heading in to my 3rd trimester now so I would be very worried if I was unvaccinated.

There are no known risks or studies to indicate that the vaccine will have any affect on the baby whatsoever. Yes I know it’s new. But they’ve been routinely giving the vaccine to pregnant women in the US since it was available. Those babies have all been born.

There ARE known risks and cases of becoming more ill with covid in your third trimester. I have no idea why you’d shut yourself away rather than get a vaccine.

I’m really anxious about Covid and so much has changed for pregnant women. They were looked after l, told to shield, work from home, numbers were not out of control (deaths were higher but only low now if you have been double jabbed). People no longer need to self isolate from amber countries. Children will now no longer be self isolating.
Sadly we have a higher chance of catching it as so many people will have it!!!
I have only had my first jab and im 29 weeks. So the holidays I will be hibernating with the kids sadly. Then September Im not sure as im due them. I certainly don’t want to give birth with Covid!!!
There is going to be a very high percentage of the uk with Covid by august/September. I will be happy once baby is here. For me the anxiety is the third trimester. God forbid anything goes wrong for my baby.

I’m 21 weeks and getting increasingly anxious with the rising cases in my area. Was supposed to get my 2nd vaccine today but now got to self isolate because of a close contact at work (in a school). 2nd time isolating in 3 weeks! It’s been fairly low case rate here up until about 4 weeks ago & was thinking I’d feel ok once I’d had two vaccines but so many cases locally is making me feel like avoiding anywhere busy 😭 I’ll definitely be sticking with mask in indoor places even though it’s uncontrollable & trying to socialise outdoors mostly. I definitely don’t feel safe going to cinema/ pub/ gym or anywhere indoor like that once the restrictions are lifted & I will be avoiding public transport too which really restricts me as I don’t drive but I would just find it too stressful 😬

At least I’m wfh due to self isolating next week & then have summer hols & only 4 weeks before maternity leave back in school so I will see what the rates are like by then 😬

There's quite a lot of misinformation on here. It really surprises me that some people still don't seem to realise that a mask doesn't protect them from anything. It only works as protection if everybody else around you is wearing one as well! So after 19th July, that protection is going to be reduced, if it is even there at all.

Pregnant women are vulnerable to Covid, just like they are more vulnerable to the flu. The difference is that there has not been a flu pandemic of this size in over 100 years, so you are far less likely to catch the flu each year, and you will most likely have been vaccinated.

It's also the risk to the baby that I worry about. I've had both doses of the vaccine, but you can still catch Covid and my understanding is that even mild cases of the illness (like the one you might have if you are vaccinated) increase the risk of stillbirth and preterm labour. I'll be taking great care.

@Dalgleish yes so will I.
I don’t quite understand the govement!

I have to say I think that some of the responses on this thread are going to really alarm people.
This is my second pregnancy, and going out for coffee, meeting other people etc were not only an enjoyable part of maternity leave, but vital to my mental health. Having a newborn is hard work.
If you are healthy, and your baby is (hopefully) healthy, then really there is no reason to lock yourself away and sanitise everything. Making people take negative tests before holding the baby, not going out much, etc...look I think it's important to have some perspective here.
Covid causes minimal risk to healthy young people.
I will be a bit more careful as I enter the third trimester because I know that can be a risky time for Covid, but I will have had both doses of the vaccine by then.
Honestly, this thread will worry some people that they should be panicking, I think we should be trying to embrace normality as much as possible.

I think people are talking more about the third trimester rather than when on maternity leave itself?

@baldafrique a lot of people talking about what they're going to do once baby is here too...

I don't understand why people have chosen not to have a vaccine. We're so unbelievably privileged in this country to have access to it. However, obviously its a personal choice.

But you can't choose not to have a vaccine when its offered to you, and then complain about restrictions lifting on 17th July.

I’ll be cracking on as usual, I’m 34 weeks and not having the vaccine yet. I had covid at 10ish weeks pregnant and can safely say that neither midwife team nor the GP surgery could give a crap about me having it so not sure whether I was/am clinically vulnerable! Until I left my work required me to work alone in an office with no ventilation so safe to say they didn’t care much either!

Has anyone managed to bring forward their second dose? Mine is still 8 weeks away.

So frustrating that we are in a higher risk group but not prioritised.

Me puppy, at a walk-in. I gave them my full info, no issue at all.

I really battle to understand those not vaccinating (especially as things open up). There are known, clear, significant risks to covid in the third trimester. There are no known issues with babies born to vaccinated mothers, and there have now been enough campaigns to explain how the vaccine can’t affect an unborn baby. As in, do what you like but I don’t get it.

And wearing a mask doesn’t protect the wearer, if it needs to be said again.

@Puppysharness yes I've managed to get my second dose booked for 7 weeks after my first one. Worth turning up to a vaccine centre if you know they have the brand of jab you need or talking to your GP

@Basil2021

I think you can, actually.

Firstly, if pregnant women have opted to have the jab, most of them will only have had one because of their ages. They weren’t prioritised for it. So that’s what a lot of people are complaining about - the government asserts that all vulnerable groups are fully vaccinated but they’ve forgotten a group.

But secondly, you’re saying that pregnant women have to take a vaccine that can’t be guaranteed to be safe for them or they need to shut up. Yes, there’s lots of reassuring evidence about its safety in pregnancy and I certainly don’t think women who opt to have it in pregnancy are remotely unreasonable. But I also don’t think it’s at all unreasonable for a pregnant women to decline a vaccine that uses novel vaccine technology and just three months ago we were told we shouldn’t have.

@MissChanandlerBong90 I don't think you can complain! The world doesn't revolve around any of us, and I'm sorry if people are anxious because they are pregnant - as I said, I'm certainly going to be careful in my third trimester, but I wouldn't dream for one second of expecting everyone to tip toe around me because I'm pregnant.
If somebody chooses not to get the vaccine then fine, of course that's their choice. But you can't choose not to get the vaccine and then complain that society is opening up.
Look - we need to get back to normal life. The economy is the obvious reason why, but other factors - mental health, people with other health conditions (NHS waiting list currently topping 5 million). If you are hopefully healthy and having a healthy, normal pregnancy then the risk is very small. This thread contains a lot of scaremongering.
Thousands of pregnant women have had the jab in the USA (not a country exactly know for its lax approach to medical litigation) and not a single negative impact on pregnancy has been reported.

I don’t think we are scaring people about the vaccine at all!! Because we are all saying how we want it sooner 🤦🏼‍♀️.
It’s not just pregnant women being forgotten about there are CEV children. I’m not worried when the baby here. I don’t think I’m being over dramatic that I don’t want Covid when giving birth and that’s a strong possibility as Covid is rife at the moment! And will continue to get worse.
Sorry pregnant women were looked after until now. We can’t control others, and lots
Of people don’t care because they need to socialise with out masks. And the thought of a lateral flow tests brings them to tears (yet we are the wimps). It’s been proven that it’s risky in the third trimester I also have asthma.
Clearly we are at the stage where economy
Is more important than lives (what’s 40 lives a day anyway). Let’s just hope it’s not any of us hey. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Also how can we be careful in out third trimester. There is no way you can. 🤷🏼‍♀️. No masks no self isolating, clubs, no social distancing. It needed to be collective and it’s not now.