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

I think the flu going round is different strains every year and I believe they adjust the vaccine to the four most prevalent strains for it to be most effective. I’ve read that this year was particularly difficult since people didn’t catch as many illnesses due to all the lockdowns and social distancing. However, the way the vaccine works remains the same as previous ones and will still provide you with protection against flu.

The flu jab does change every year OP. That’s why some people will go to get a yearly flu jab so they are protected from what scientists believe will be the most prominent strains of that year. There are also some things in it that they protects against for a long time and stay the same every year. This is what the pharmacist told me a couple of years ago when I got my first one. I had mine in Boots btw, just booked online and had no hassle going in to get it, no waiting in line or anything.

@Rainbow123456789 from what I understand, your baby will be protected in the first few weeks by your whooping cough vaccine. By the time it wears off, they will be ready for their own vaccines, so they will have excellent protection against whooping cough.

It can be a very serious disease for a new baby, so there is no good reason to risk it. When I was in the waiting room for my 20 week scan, the midwives were recommending to everyone that they get whooping cough and flu vaccines immediately after their scans.

Presumably you will follow the standard guidelines for vaccinating your child once it’s born? Following the guidelines for recommended pregnancy vaccines doesn’t seem any different in my opinion. We all want what’s best for our babies.

@Fluffycloudland77

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.

This ^^ My mum had many many (mostly early) miscarriages & after investigations it turned out her body was basically treating the foetus as a 'foreign body'. Ironically she now has several illnesses that massively reduce her immune system & she suffers every winter.

It is different strains every year. They prioritise the groups most likely to either catch it or die from it so in the last few years they’ve included children too. I have the flu jab routinely as my mum had bad flu at 39 and thought she was going to die from it, the hospital was full so the dr had to visit every day.

Basically if they offer you something there’s a good reason.

@WeCalledTheDogIndiana

Thank you.
Do you want to know why it probably sounded like that about the vaccines, is because my immediate family, I would group them as anti vax, don’t know if they would, but they are. It’s what has been around me for a long time. You don’t realise what you pick up from your family.

I guess its the biggest reason why I asked on here, because in the past when it came down to me, just me, about my own health in my mind it wasn’t a big deal. But now, now it’s all very different, it’s not just me, I have to think about how my decisions now will affect my pregnancy/child. I think I didn’t want to write about my family in such a way as it would potentially let people presume I’m the same, I’m not I’ve had all of mine. I guess after years of listening to things, when the situation changes & you have another human life as your whole responsibility you start to question what you’ve been around.

I’m sorry for the things that have happened to you/r family, when you explained that healthy people take advantage…it was the right thing for you to say. I hadn’t thought about it like that, my family is so small I (thankfully) havnt experienced any illness or even death and I am aware of that one, it’s very much true I’ve been extremely lucky. So realistically, what you said needed to be said. Out of everyone’s, funnily enough yours was what made me understand it better.
As I’m only approx 5 week, I havnt told anyone, havnt had a drs app yet & my boyfriend is away a lot and he told me he’s away for a few more weeks which with the hormones too I’m guessing made me even more upset. So I’m sorry I got upset at you, I do think if you should have explained your first message abit better though thank you though, for sharing your knowledge and experiences with me

but is the flu the same every year?

There are lots of variants of flu, it’s been around so long that it’s had a lot of chances to mutate. Each year the flu vaccine is the most likely variant that you will encounter. What this means is that you can have a flu vaccine and still catch flu because you’ve caught a different variant. Although this is a low possibility, if you are unlucky enough to catch the flu after the vaccine it doesn’t mean it didn’t work. It also means that you can have a bad reaction to the vaccine one year and be fine another year. This is also why you can catch flu one year, when you’ve never caught it before because you’re susceptible to this particular variant.

You’re more vulnerable to a lot of things in pregnancy. Your pregnancy might be plain sailing and you might feel great. However, it’s likely that even a small cold, a small infection makes you feel worse than normal because your body is just doing other things. I ended up with a UTI and dehydration and ended up at the GP because it just made me feel a lot worse than I would normally (obviously I’d have needed to see the GP for antibiotics anyway but in my call with them I was explaining I felt off but couldn’t say why specifically). It was hard to pinpoint which issue was making me feel so ill and it was just both together, on top of being tired with pregnancy. The whooping cough vaccine is solely for baby’s benefit. The other two vaccines I’ve taken in pregnancy are for my benefit and babies (as antibodies can pass to baby) but also to try and limit even a mild case of even covid or flu because I think a mild case will just take so much out of me.

@ikeepseeingit
I always wondered how they knew it was going to work, thank you!

@Derbee oh yes 100% I mentioned whooping cough one because that’s the only one I’ve read about so far.
I think it was more specifically the flu one because I thought it was just aimed at me, and I was like “oh I’ve never had flu, I’ll be fine won’t I?” I 100% will be following any and all vaccinations offered to my child. Honestly, I didn’t know that the flu one would have such a potential impact on a pregnant woman, I never knew :( but I’m glad people are sharing their information, I’m glad I questioned myself on that one!

Don’t forget you get free nhs dentistry till the baby is one too, just incase you have an nhs dentist.

I agree with the PP about finding out your information from credible sources. For example when I was deciding about whether to have to covid vaccine during pregnancy I decided only to speak to or listen to medically or scientifically trained people and only read peer reviewed studies published in credible journals and not to ask anymore on forums or talk to my family or friends about it as they don't know anymore than I do.

It is very hard to decide these things when you have another life to consider. I lost a baby at 19 weeks last year so I had even more anxiety but actually that made me trust my doctors recommendations more as he knows the journey and loss and anxiety I've been through and I honestly don't believe he would recommend anything to me if he had any doubts.

@InTheNightWeWillWish

Honestly I always wondered what the point of it was , as I knew that the bacteria changes and adapts. Now you’ve explained how they try and figure out which one we will have this year and then you could still get it even though you’ve had the jab is because it could be a different strain. That makes sense, thank you. I know it sounded like a stupid question, I guess it’s somthing I’ve never learned so thank you!

So, I’ll get the flu jab, so would you reckon that when people start getting poorly in winter time it’d be best for my to keep my distance even from a runny nose for example? that would be best wouldn’t it

I kind of wish there was a like button on this thing because everything @InTheNightWeWillWish has just said is exactly it.
After catching that cold last month I definitely suffered more than I normally do and I really don’t want to experience even a mild case of flu or something else. It’s an added stress I don’t need, pregnancy is difficult enough!
Fingers crossed our pregnancies are issue free but it did provide me with comfort knowing I’d been given some protection anyway.

@Pizzaandsushi ,
Firstly I love the username!
I’m lacking knowledge in a lot of areas atm! I havnt had anyone close to me to through a pregnancy and so apart from what videos I can find and information to read, I dont have much to go on. I do agree with inthenightwewillwish after listening to their reasoning, I think unfortunately we clashed a little at the beginning there.
And I dont think it helped, I had massively underestimated the impact the flu could have on pregnant women… I hadn’t thought about it :/

They are expecting a killer flu season this year so please have it because you could catch it and it could be so harmful to you and baby. I had the jab for the first time when I was pregnant with my first, paid to have it last year and had it again this year as pregnant. It's free!!! And it could just save you and baby from getting ill.

I generally try to keep my distance from those with colds anyway because I don’t want their germs at the best of time. You won’t be so vulnerable that you’ll pick everything up really easily. You probably don’t need to isolate and lock yourself away but if you do catch a cold, you’ll probably spend a bit of time cursing the person who gave it you and just feel a bit more miserable than usual.

Thank you to everyone who’s replied to this, I very much appreciate it.

I started this post, under the impression solely on my own research that the flu wasnt somthing I needed to worry about…
I didn’t know how much of an impact it could actually have on any pregnant woman.
Honestly, I didn’t understand how they worked out which type of flu was around this year… Due to the flu changing I thought it was different to other vaccines, polio for example.
Even before this post I am getting my child 100% vaccinated. I think I questioned the flu jab, because I didn’t understand the impact it could have.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to share your information with me, it has helped direct me in the right direction and I will be getting the flu jab when I can ❤️

@Rainbow123456789 so sorry your feeling a bit overwhelmed and lost. I also dont know why people go into attack mode when someone has a different opinion. Humans are all different and the fact we all like different things makes it interesting.

Pregnancy is such a worrying/strange/emotional time. You should feel comfortable to ask anything pregnancy related. I've found mumsnet so helpful when I've had random twinges, spotting or just feeling emotional about certain aspects. I'm pregnant with #3 and it still all baffles me.

Feel free to PM if you want to chat or if I can offer any insight into the weird world of pregnancy xx

@Rainbow123456789 that is a really generous and thoughtful post, thank you - it does make more sense now you've explained that. And it's lovely that you bothered to write it when you were understandably feeling got-at on this thread and could have reasonably been huffy. Clearly you're going to be a very thoughtful and loving mum - lucky baby

I was definitely more snappy than I might have been. In case it helps explain further, as well as my previous flu experience I've currently got an under 1 under consultant care who needs to avoid germs this winter and so I'm a bit sensitive about this subject. But again I'm sorry that I upset you.

I'm really glad you've found this thread helpful. MN can be great. And spring / summer babies are lovely, so you've great timing!

@Rainbow123456789 I completely understand. I’m an only child and the first of my friends going through pregnancy so I’ve felt lost at times and it’s all new to me with pretty much no one close to turn to for advice.
Funnily enough I work in science research and spend a lot of my time having to read scientific papers (not specialised in virology so I can’t comment too much but enough I can understand the terminology) but as soon as I found out I was pregnant, all logical thinking went out the window and it became very hard for me to make decisions on taking/getting anything during pregnancy. It’s hard when you suddenly become responsible for someone else and you want to make sure you make the right decision for them. In the end I had to remind myself I’d trust my advice when it comes to what I research so I need to do the same for other experts in their field of research.
Also pizza and sushi is always a win 😂

Also, the sooner the better for your flu jab. There’s no benefit of waiting and doing it at the same time as whooping cough, as you won’t be offered that until at least 11 weeks from now. Flu season is NOW, so the sooner the better for your flu jab. Speak to your GP or midwife to book in when you can.

@Furmummy Sure, mine were late 30s/early 40s too. First time mums most likely to be ten years younger than the age I am now, was what I was going with. But no matter.

Fair enough, apologies, I am struggling with hormones at the moment and finding myself much more sensitive and argumentative which I never usually am!

After reading this thread I was also interested in why pregnancy lowers the immune so I googled it and found it really interesting: www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/infections#causes
I work as a primary school teacher and since the start of the school year I've not been completely cold or illness free- it's driving me mad. It's definitely true that pregnancy lowers your immune. In the last week there have been soooooooo many Covid cases and because we are not sending classes home or isolating it's absolutely terrifying. Predictions are that this year might also be really bad in terms of flue (because we were isolating and now we're not) I'm so grateful for vaccinations as even though they will not protect 100%- they are the least I can do to try to keep my baby safe.

Furmummy No worries at all. I hear you...I remember crying all over a midwife and asking her when the hormones would go. With many more swear words than I've typed here.