Covid vaccination during pregnancy

[JuneySunshine]

Hello,

Absolutely keen to have the vaccine and already had my first shot of Moderna.

Have my second booked for when I'll be 8w. I remember with my first shot they asked if I could be pregnant so thinking it would be a good idea to tell a doctor beforehand.

Has anyone done that and has advice to delay etc?
Or has anyone gone ahead and how has it been?

I was pretty side effects free from the first one.

They should ask you if you're pregnant when you have the jab. There is a box on their system that they tick yes or no in (I'm in Scotland and there was in mine, not sure about anywhere else). But yes you should mention it to the vaccinator when you have it if they don't.

I tried to speak to my GP about it but couldn't get passed reception!

I had my second (Pfizer) a couple of days ago at 35 weeks, but it was a very hard decision to make! The advice now is that pregnant women should be offered it in line with their age group.

The first dose I just had a sore arm for a couple of days. The second dose was the same, but nowhere near as sore and not for as long

All pregnant women are being advised to have their jabs now - I’m 34 weeks and had both my jabs during pregnancy.

Had a sore arm both times but other than that, it was fine!

I had my first Pfizer at about 6/7 weeks. They asked if I could be pregnant as part of the Pre-jab questions which I think is probably mostly for records. I was told the risks of catching COVID when pregnant is higher than the risks from the jab.

Hi @Daffodil21

Thanks for replying. That's good to know.
I'm sure they will ask and didn't know if when I said yes they'd say I should have prewarned them or done anything different, but I see it could just be for records now.

If I manage to get an appointment generally for the new pregnancy I'll mention it just for peace of mind.

Well done with your second jab, and glad to hear no intense side effects.

Please wait until your baby is born

@AwakeNotAsleep why?

@AwakeNotAsleep the OP has already said she has decided to have it. She was just asking for advice on how to go about it.

Let's not turn this into a vaccine shaming thread. Each to their own decision (and when pregnant it's not an easy one!)

Thanks @Ewanismydreamsheep good to hear you had it at a similar way along.

Yes as I said, keen to have it if that's the medical advice, but just wanted to check what advice others had received really.

@AwakeNotAsleep Do we, as expecting mothers not get enough unsolicited advice? Keep your opinion to yourself - it has absolutely no relevance to what the op was talking about.

That makes sense. I did um and ah a bit about delaying it until after 12 weeks before I had it but I work in high-ish risk environment and get the bus so getting it made me feel safer.

I got both vaccines when pregnant, they asked me if I was the first time and this was at the time when it wasn’t routinely offered to pregnant women, but because of other health issues and because I worked in a high risk environment, I very much saw it as a choice between the vaccine and Covid.

The GP, midwife and vaccinator I spoke to were all supportive, the vaccinator explained to me how the vaccine worked etc and that it wouldn’t cross the placenta. At the second vaccination it was just a routine thing where they ticked the box. I don’t think you’ll have any issues OP.

Whilst I appreciate not everyone who is pregnant will feel comfortable taking the vaccine, I think it's really irresponsible
to try and tell a pregnant woman not to protect herself and baby by being vaccinated when they've made their own choice, especially as cases are set to rise and restrictions ease.

I obsessed about this for weeks.
I had my first jab at 39w on Friday.
Sore arm, bit tired but baby wriggling away still.

I was adamant I was going to wait until baby was born, but I started getting panic attacks about going outside as didn't want covid when I have baby
From all I read and watched the vaccine doesn't transfer over placenta, and takes a few weeks to build immunity so I'm hoping baby comes out soon.
Then by 19th July I'll have some protection.

I'm still terrified of something going wrong with baby, but couldn't live in fear
If something happens I'll never forgive myself, but I trust the science for all other vaccines, so this isn't any different IMHO.

I know advice is different everywhere, but in Ireland, pregnant women are offered (recommended?) the vaccine between 14 and 36 weeks. I think it's probably just to avoid any worries that the vaccine causes miscarriage (people would blame vaccine when miscarriage is unfortunately so common anyway) I would seek advice from a GP if possible, although bear in mind a lot of GPs are struggling to keep up with the most recent advice and recommendations!

Thanks everyone, this is really helpful. I think obviously there's going to be worries either way appreciate everyone sharing.

That's interesting @RecordPlayer, I'd seen something about waiting to the second trimester myself which must have been at the back of my mind when asking this question.

This is all encouraging me to call the gp/ refer myself to the midwife generally so I can mention it while going through the usual process. Obviously don't want to add pressure to them but OK if we're talking anyway.