Anyone else due in the winter worried about covid / flu?

[Jorja02]

I know there’s not much we can do about it but I’m feeling quite anxious about giving birth in December with all the uncertainty around new covid variants and a bad flu season etc because we’ve mot been mixing. I know I decided to get pregnant during covid but with vaccines rolling out I thought things would be looking more positive.

I was on maternity leave with my first child during the lack lockdown and have visions of the same this winter..it just feels endless. I guess I’m most worried about nhs staff shortages due to sickness / isolation and the impact that might have on mid wife units and hospitals. I’ve debated a home birth but too worried about things going wrong. I didn’t have any issues with ppd / ppa last time but feel very anxious this time around, I can’t tell if it’s a genuine problem or a natural reaction to what’s going on in the world though.

Yes due Jan and I am a bit worried but we have the vaccine this year so we can only hope we don’t go back into a winter lockdown. It must of been so hard to have a baby and maternity during all of that.

Yeah I’m hoping it makes a big difference, due to get second jab next week so that’s some peace of mind. The news is just so negative at the moment so trying to avoid it! I really enjoyed my first pregnancy but this time I just want baby out and safe as feel quite vulnerable.

I'm due boxing day and hoping for a home birth (second child came so quickly he was born in an ambulance five minutes away from home) so I'm really hoping home births can still go ahead as in my trust they were stopped last winter.

My second child was born December 2019 so was only very young at the start of the first lockdown. Definitely not something I'll be wanting to repeat

Fingers crossed you get your home birth, I had no idea some trusts had not allowed home births. I know some mid wife led units had closed...last time I had a water birth in a dimly lit MLU which was as pleasant as it gets! Really don’t want the horrible clinical hospital setting. I was lucky last time and got out the same day but dreading being stuck on a ward while all this is going on..don’t believe infection control would be safe with visitors coming in etc.

Yes due the first week of Feb but having twins so likely to come late Dec or early Jan. I really didn't want to be due in Jan but life had other plans. I got fully vaxxed before getting pregnant and both dh and I can work from home. Planning to fork out for a private delivery as don't want to be stuck in a hospital for days with dh only allowed with me like 2 hours a day.

I'm in the same boat! Due December and very worried about what the situation might be come winter with covid and such.. especially whether there mignt be or mignt not be restrictions... and also having no idea what to expect in relation to birth and my DH etc by then.

My work is very kindly agreed I can continue to work from home in my third trimester regardless of the situation - mixture of pregnancy but also long term health condition that effects my mobility so they've agreed to change my contract to home working. Which is helping a lot with some of the anxiety there about being in an office with lots of other people.

I'm fully vaccinated too so trying to remind myself that I'm taking all the right steps and not to be overly worried about catching it.. but there's definitely the little worry about it in the back of my mind.

Yes, due in November and really worried. I'm more worried about getting covid in the third trimester.

I've had both jabs but will they still be efficient then? What if dp gets it just before I'm due? What if it's rife and restrictions are still lifted so visitors will expect to come and go? Will we get the flu jab?

I'm considering a home birth so that we don't go near a busy hospital!

I'm the same. We thought we'd have our last baby this year. Vaccines were really good news and the delta variant wasn't in the news then. In hindsight I might have waited or not bothered 🥲 I have 3 other children, 2 secondary age.

I'm in the same boat. Due baby #2 in December and I've not even had my first vaccination yet (I've been uncharacteristically anxious about getting it, but I'm going to force myself to have it once we've had the all clear at the anomaly scan).

The prospect of an extended stay in hospital in winter is pretty unsettling. I was in for 2-3 weeks with my daughter ante- and post-natally and I'd really like to avoid a repeat experience, let alone with face masks and reduced visiting. I'm also going to try for a home birth if I can.

I'm hopeful that vaccinations (which will have reached even more of the population come autumn/winter) will have a big impact on things. And there's much better awareness now of the needs and rights of pregnant women in the context of covid, so hopefully maternity and health visiting services will be functioning normally.

I’m due Dec and I’m prepared that things may get worse but hopefully they won’t. We are in such unknown territory it’s impossible to know what is the right/wrong thing to do

Thanks everyone hopefully things will be looking a little bit more positive by then and we’ll have a better idea of the impact the vaccine is having soon...I wish I felt more confident about a home birth / lived closer to a hospital as I think it would be a much more relaxing experience! I guess once in Labour though covid won’t be the first thing on our minds at least!

It’s nice to hear from other pregnant ladies, I think it can feel quite isolating being pregnant during these times. A lot of my friends don’t have kids yet and are getting excited about going to clubs / festivals soon so feel on very different wavelengths!

Hi everyone. I'm due January and feeling anxious too - has anyone had their 2nd jab whilst pregnant? And anyone had AstraZeneca? I've delayed my 2nd jab as got pregnant inbetween and worried about there not being any data on AstraZeneca in pregnancy- but equally not sure I want to risk a 3rd trimester in winter without having both jabs! x

Im not really worried about getting sick as I'm vaccinated against covid and ill get the flu vaccine when it comes out.

The only thing playing on mind is the maternity hospital restrictions, my hospital still won't allow partners in until active labour and its looking less likely that they'll ease up on that by my due date.

Hi @Loll84 I’m in same situation as you re AZ jab. There’s a recent post on here from 4th Aug with some responses about it. I’ll tag you on it so you can see.