Covid jab early pregnancy

[MaSads]

Hi, I realise that this may be a contentious issue and I am not trying to start any debate. I am just wondering what are the general thoughts regarding these in early pregnancy. It has been a long time since my first (nearly 7 years ago) so I have little to no info on this subject. I believe I had the flu jab last time but wondered if anyone knows if the covid jab is recommended strongly or just advisory, especially in first trimester? Is it generally considered safe etc? Thanks in advance

Wouldn't bother with it. Someone I knew had a miscarriage after getting her covid jab.

Ah stop that. 1 in 4 women have miscarriages unfortunately that is just a fact. The covid vaccine does not cause miscarriages. Scientifically what can cause complications / miscarriages is high and uncontrolled fever in the first trimester, which we all know is common with covid infection. This forum is no place for scaremongering.

OP if you want the vaccine go for it, it is safe. I urge you to get your info from NHS, RCOG, NICE guidelines, your Midwife and GP rather than opinions of strangers on the Internet because you'll get all sorts of wacky answers.

I would not risk the jab. There is just too much uncertainty about a vaccine that was fast tracked. There is no way I would have it.

I won't be getting the covid jab. The moderna booster gave me chronic urticaria (all over body hives non stop) for 9 months (the time for vaccine efficacy to fade) and messed up my cycle terribly. All back to normal once the vaccine efficacy dropped. I was also part of a Harvard research study on urticaria as a symptom of covid vaccines worldwide so know it wasn't just me!

In my last pregnancy I had the covid jab, flu jab and whooping cough jab. I was absolutely fine with all of them.

This time they are also offering an RSV jab after 28 weeks which I think I'll have. I'm in two minds about having the covid jab this time, just because I've had covid a couple of times and it hasn't been any worse than a standard cold.

Covid and flu vaccines are recommended but not mandatory.

I had both Covid vaccines whilst pregnant. I had my first at 12 weeks because that is when they became available for my age group during the mass vaccination. I had my second jab around 20 weeks. Baby is now a very active 3 year old and developing wonderfully. DH and I joke they are so independent that they are probably moving out next week!

After my first jab, my injection site was sore and I felt under the weather. The GP looked at me and said it was a localised reaction, which I have had to other jabs. The feeling under the weather was because it was hot and I’d not yet worked out how to stay hydrated with a tiny internal radiator. I was also starting with a UTI, which was unrelated to the jab and a common occurrence in pregnancy. I did have to have some antibiotics for the UTI. Dr assured me that all the data coming out around pregnancy and Covid jabs was safe and nothing to cause alarm.

Some women in my NCT did not have the jab and there is literally no difference in our kids. It was a difficult time because they started by saying do not have it if you are pregnant as they did not test on pregnant women (they never test on pregnant women anymore as it would be unethical to do so). However, by the time I was about 20 weeks there were a lot of stories of pregnant women being very ill with it and the official advice was to get jabbed but a lot of damage was done in those early weeks. Speak with your healthcare provider though, they will be able to offer you the most up to date advice and tailor it to your personal circumstances.

Edit to say - I did have to be watched a bit longer because I was pregnant but more for fear of fainting than anything else. But again this was during the mass vaccination and everyone had to wait for 5 minutes after their jab. I just had to wait for 10 minutes.

The various jabs have been given to millions of people worldwide, including during pregnancy.

Talk of "fast track" with an implication that this was somehow unsafe is just plain scaremongering. There were no steps missed out - it was rather that the typical delays (in getting funds, recruiting subjects and then in getting regulatory bodies to consider the evidence) were overcome and so the process was faster. And of course much time has passed since then, with the usual post-roll out scrutiny.

It is much safer for you and the your baby if you get the jab. Covid is often more serious in pregnancy and the evidence shows it can cause miscarriage and placental failure. Also, the effects of covid, particularly neuro and developmental ones, following exposure to the wild virus in utero is not fully known (but is being studied, because there is an apparent increase)

Personally I was happy to have the jab but I did have a miscarriage the next day at 6.5 weeks pregnant. When I became pregnant again I was then offered a further booster and that time I delayed until I'd had my baby. Incidentally I then got Covid at 36 weeks pregnant (probably from a woman also attending a scan who was coughing and sneezing like a crop sprayer in the small waiting room) which sucked but I don't regret not having it until I delivered. I'm not saying it caused it, it was very likely to be an unhappy coincidence, but it definitely changed my outlook.

@ChiefEverythingOfficer the fast tracking of the vaccine was mostly due to the vast amounts of paperwork that is involved. Money and paperwork slows down getting vaccines and drugs to market. You would usually have to find funding to start the development. Once you get a hit find funding to take it to the next level. Get the paperwork in place to find an appropriate cohort of people to test it on. Get the funds for first in man.
The funding was readily available. They knew they were going to need X number of people for a first in man study for vaccine a, B or c. They knew they would then need groups of people all over the world to be tested as part of the next phase. This takes time but they could start selecting those people before the vaccines were ready for this stage so that when it was it was quick to green light the study and get it set up. It was medical research working in it's most stream lined manner. The science wasn't fast tracked but the logistics of moving a vaccine program from step 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 was. Also, in normal circumstances these trials would have to be fitted around all clinical trials that were on going. They had all stopped due to covid so the covid vaccine programs had almost unlimited resources and that is why they were able to turn it around so quickly.

I have had a covid vaccine every year since they have become available including a couple of weeks before getting a positive test and I have no concerns about it causing miscarriage. I did have a miscarriage in August and had no vaccines prior to this.

Which was a very sad coincidence.

Please get the RSV vaccine. RSV is the leading cause of paediatric hospital admissions in the winter months. Babies sadly die from it.

I personally wouldn't in first trimester. I won't go into reasonings as don't want to start a debate!

I had mine in the first trimester both pregnancies. Very pleased I did. The first time round I was actually part of the vaccine trial so the jab hadn't even been approved yet. I read all the info and made a choice for me. You should do the same and try not to put too much weight on anecdotal evidence. Read about how vaccines actually work and their potential to interact with a pregnancy. It'll give you a better idea about how it all works.

There is no evidence of higher risk of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy following vaccination against Covid-19 or infection with the disease. This research considers data from over 500,000 (yes that’s over half a million) pregnancies.
https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2022/no-increased-miscarriage-risk-due-to-vaccine

Vaccination against covid-19 during pregnancy is not associated with a higher risk of preterm birth, small for gestational age at birth, or stillbirth. This study looked at 85,162 births.
https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-071416

There is no evidence that Covid vaccinations are associated with miscarriage. This paper looks at data from 149 ,685 women.
https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/38/5/840/7043098

I had my covid vaccination at the start of trimester 2.
I deliberately did this because placenta was fully established so baby would have some protection too.

Do your reading the risk of covid to mum and baby increases in 3rd trimester sadly how you were with previous ones is no indication of how you would be with covid when pregnant.

I've had covid while TTC and it was horrendous - 41 degree fever for a week, missed both ovulation and period that month. Then a random bleed came through. Currently pregnant, had both flu and covid jabs, no ill effects whatsoever. Idea of going through the similar degree of illness with prolonged fever and random bleeding while being pregnant terrified me.

It must be different with where you're based as to whether you're offered it anyway.

I've asked a few different midwives at various points throughout my pregnancy and all have said they don't think they're doing it anymore. I was only offered Flu and RSV, so just had those.

As it seems to be more regional rather than really promoted nationwide like the RSV one, I'd probably go with your own judgement on whether you want it or not.