First pregnancy, flu vaccine

[Rainbow123456789]

Hi, this is my first time on here….
I’ve recently found out I’m pregnant about 5 weeks now. I’ve been doing a lot of research about anything and everything honestly because I don’t know anything! One of the things that has come up on NHS website but I havnt seen it anywhere else is that pregnant women should have the flu vaccine…
I’ve never once in my life ever been seriously ill, never had the flu. I’ve probably been quite lucky! I get the odd sniffly nose or sore throat…nothing more honestly.
And so I’ve never needed or wanted the flu vaccine. Oh and before you say no I’m definitely not anti vax, I’m just curious if there’s anyone who’s not had it before who then still didn’t get it after they became pregnant and how did they go on.
Please bear in mind, i dont have anyone to ask these things about, it’s my first pregnancy, I’m genuinely looking for both sides of it….kind of what are all of your experiences so it can help me decide what’s best for me going forward
Thank you in advance

Hi @op, I'm a ftm-to-be (but second pregnancy, had a mmc earlier this year). I'm 18+5 now, had the flu jab for the first time ever back in September (about 11 weeks) and didn't experience any side effects bar a sore arm for a couple of days. I'm normally healthy and fit, decent immune system, but I'm glad I had the jab. I've been knocked flat by a rotten cold/cough for 10 days now, would hate to think how I'd cope with proper flu (or what might happen). Our immune systems are probably not as strong now as normal due to social distancing/lockdowns.

First pregnancy. I’ve never had the flu jab before, but it seemed completely irresponsible not to take all the vaccines offered during pregnancy.

Immediately after my 20 week scan, I had whooping cough and flu jab, one in each arm. NO reaction to either whatsoever, not even a tender arm

@Rainbow123456789 I'm sorry about some of the comments you've had, I've been sat biting my tongue at some of the quite rude assumptions that had been made. Try not to take it personally, most of us are pregnant and so hormones are flying everywhere 😉

I've found the absolute best support on here is on the due dates thread. I assume you are due in July, I think there is a thread going for July 😊 They are lovely places as everyone is in a similar situation. Best of luck in your pregnancy xx

I’m 37 weeks FTM and never had flu before or had the flu vaccine before. I had the flu vaccine as soon as the bookings were available at my pharmacy (I also had whooping cough and covid vaccines during pregnancy).

Pregnancy makes you vulnerable. My mum has had flu, at the time we were living month to month and she was in debt from my dad leaving. She said someone could have told her that there was a million pounds at the bottom of the garden and all she had to do was go pick it up and she wouldn’t have been able to do it. At the time she’d have been in her 30s. She’d never had flu before or since (although has had the jab every year since getting it). Not having had the flu is no indication that you won’t get it, you might be more susceptible to this year’s variant or your pregnancy might mean you pick it up easier.

I had a mild localised reaction to the covid vaccines (small, raised, red lump), I had a sore arm with whooping cough. I had no symptoms with the flu vaccine, not even a sore arm.

I'd never had the flu...until I had the flu a few years ago and then I was very ill. I ended up with pneumonia. Fortunately I wasn't pregnant at the time, but I am now and had the flu job and whopping cough jab at 16 weeks.

Look at it this way, it's not about you, it's about the health of your unborn baby. The flu can make pregnant women very ill.

@GeorgiaMcGraw @Derbee

Thank you! I think with it being my very first & not having much knowledge I was/am unsure about trusting myself to make the right decision. I wasn’t hoping for a particular outcome, I guess I was hoping for responses like yours where you hadn’t gotten it before but decided to during pregnancy. I had no idea pregnant women had weaker immune systems! Think from what I read online I misunderstood, as I’ve always been okay, so took that as I wouldn’t need it. Specifically the flu jab that is, I read into the whooping cough one and understand how that helps the baby’s first few weeks after being born & then don’t you get another booster for whooping cough after it’s born?

I'd get it so you don't have to worry about getting flu

Your immune system lowers so you don’t attack the baby as it has different dna to you much like a virus has, immune systems don’t like non-self dna floating about.

I would recommend talking to your doctor or midwife about it - I'm 40w today and my doctor gave me a really good explanation about all the vaccines when it was almost time to have them (I've had the flu, whooping cough and covid vaccines during pregnancy). I've never had flu but after speaking to my doctor I decided i would get the vaccine to protect my baby particularly being due in November and with the possibility of flu numbers increasing.

Can I ask another question that I genuinely know nothing about? A lot of you said pregnant women have lower immune systems, does anyone know why?

I don’t think it’s just one factor as to why you’re more vulnerable. Obviously your energy, your nutrients are going to the baby. You’re more likely to get dehydrated because you have a little heating system and baby is going to take what it needs from you. You’re more likely to get UTIs because of how baby is positioned and you’re unable to empty your bladder properly. If you suffer with nausea or sickness then baby will take what it needs from your reserves, even if you can’t eat and replenish those stores. You’re more tired and we’re more likely to be ill when run down and can’t fight things the same. As your baby gets bigger, it’s squashes your organs to make room for its growth. So by the third trimester, many women suffer with breathlessness or aren’t able to eat the same amount as previously as there’s a baby in the way. Then there’s a whole host of pregnancy related complications which could bump your vulnerability even more, even if you’re fit and healthy at the minute it doesn’t mean you won’t get these.

Also no ones had flu until they had flu. It doesn’t mean you’re safe because you’ve never had it.

Majority of how humans communicate is through body language and facial expressions with the spoken word making up the least % of the communication. So a lot of what we type on here would very much be open to interpretation! I know that, I just couldn’t help getting upset at it.
I’m not on here to cause drama, I’m looking for guidance and support. Because I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m scared I’m not going to be a good parent, I want to make sure I do everything I can to make sure my child doesn’t have the upbringing I did! I want to do the best I can.
I was like “I wouldn’t need that would I?” Hence why I asked, I wasn’t aiming for any particular answer I guess I just wanted someone to tell me what to do lol!
There’s a reason there’s the saying it takes a village to raise a child, because knowledge and experience are shared and passed down from one generation to another. But how am I supposed to learn anything if when I ask somthing i get berated for not knowing what’s right. ❤️

Thank you

Also I've read the same as @Fluffycloudland77 - its to protect the fetus from your body thinking its a foreign object and your immune system attacking it.

Ahh! Yeah, I’ve watched a couple of videos relating to pregnancy and how it affects your body. It didn’t go into detail about that, but that really does make sense. Thank you!

Ok, I guess most of that was at me so I’ll happily (and civilly) explain a few things

Part of the reason I responded as I did was because people very frequently post on MN (and other social media sites)to push anti-vaccine views and when they do they don’t tend to post with “I’m anti vaccines”. Instead they generally adopt a tone similar to your post - ie I’m definitely not anti vax but I don’t know about this one, I’m not sure, tell me about your experiences. The thread then fills up with a mixture of views but crucially a lot of misinformation, which is what the anti vaccine agenda is all about - they want people to see that and plant a seed of “well, maybe vaccines aren’t as safe as I assumed”. There have already been posts on here which are outright lies (or at very best misunderstandings) about vaccines. It’s a very common technique, used widely, and the way you write used the same tone so threw up red flags for me. If you are in good faith, apologies and I hope that explains the reason why.

That was one part. The other was that you were asking for people’s experiences, but that won’t really tell you anything about whether or not you should make a medical decision for yourself and your baby. There is SO much information out there about pregnancy! Good, evidence based, thoughtful information, and you are only ever going to get a random selection of views on social media. MN is great for support. It is not great for making important decisions on the basis of anecdote.

And thirdly, yes, I was irritated by your suggestion that never having had flu meant you were perhaps somehow immune from future illness. I think once you have experienced ill health and seen loved ones have their lives limited and sometimes ended by preventable illness - which I have increasingly so in my 30s and 40s - you get impatient with healthy, lucky people assuming bad things only happen to other people. To use your reasoning back to me: could you not have just asked for information without implying that?

I’m sorry you were upset by my tone. I agree it was rude. I disagree it was unnecessary. Sometime a short sharp post gets things across best.

I hope your pregnancy goes really well

Yes your immune system lowers so you don't reject the baby as PP said.

@Furmummy Because she says it's her first pregnancy, so she's most likely 20s/30s

Get the flu jab!! Especially if pregnant.

Just so you know OP, the flu jab is very different to the covid jab in regards to symptoms afterwards. I was told by the pharmacist when I got my flu jab that it’s a dead virus so I won’t get any symptoms unlike the covid jab. She was right, the covid jab was awful with me I had a high fever, migraine, fatigue and couldn’t move my arm without pain at all, honestly felt like death for a week. The flu jab I felt literally nothing. Much better and will get it every year from now on.

So in relation to your second question re the immune system, I think it’s basically because if your immune system wasn’t lowered your body would recognise baby as a foreign body (I don’t promise that’s correct and I’m not a doctor but that was my sort of understanding).

Also like you say it’s just a lot of hard work growing a human and it puts lots of pressure on your body.

I think maybe the thing to do is discuss it with your GP - if you choose not to get the vaccine I imagine the actual risk is quite small but as others have said, we often think of colds and flu as minor ailments but the actual flu can potentially be very serious.

This is my first pregnancy too and like you I’ve never had flu but got the jab as soon as I passed my 20th week (I’ve also had my whooping and covid, covid was absolutely fine, whooping did sting going in and I had a sore arm for a few days but I’ve had suspected whooping cough and it is NOT pleasant so definitely worth getting the booster).
In fact the flu one was so minor, I barely felt it going in and had no side effects what so ever. Very pleased I’ve had it as there’s a lot of viruses going round atm and I’ve already caught one cold which really knocked me out so I definitely don’t want the same or worse experience with flu.
I also was under the impression pregnant women have a lowered immune system so your body doesn’t attack the baby, as it’s not recognised by your body as you. Therefore if we do have less immunity it made sense in my mind to get all the jab the NHS recommend.

@InTheNightWeWillWish

Thank you for taking the time to explain that. That makes sense, honestly that’s how I needed things to be explained! I have my first pregnancy related appointment beginning of December and so havnt had a opportunity to speak to anyone about any questions I have… so, if you’re putting more energy into baby, less energy than normal for you, then its a kind of similar to when your run down, you’re more vulnerable to infections and such?

I’m sorry I know this is definitely a stupid question, but is the flu the same every year? Is that how they know the flu shot will work? I thought it changes all the time that’s how you get a sniffly nose/cough every year because it changes…but then if it changes why would the flu one not change….? Am I making sense? Yeah I probably need to wait to my drs app and throw the questions on them sorry haha

I never had the flu or got the flu vaccine until I got pregnant. Then I got it and whooping cough vaccines at same time.
I am pregnant again now and definitely getting flu vaccine again, in fact getting both again tomorrow.
Risks are much higher when you’re pregnant, I don’t want to risk it - especially after the last year we’ve had.

OP I'm sorry if you also felt I was rude. I'm with @WeCalledTheDogIndiana - a lot of anti-vax misinformation is posted in a similar way to your post and it threw up red flags for me. That and the million posts a week I see on here and Facebook where individuals are doubting evidence based science and opting to take advice from randoms on the Internet - it makes no sense! I am sorry though you felt attacked - we are all vulnerable during pregnancy and it sounds like you don't have much support. In future though, I'd urge you to have these medical discussions with professionals, if anything so you don't fall victim to someone who sees an opportunity to spread misinformation.