Quick poll - Pg ladies, how pg are you and will you be having the swine flu jab?

[laurawantsababy]

I am 25 weeks pg with dc2 and very confused.

After another death but with conflicting advice about the jab chosen for the UK what are we to do??

I would love you here everyones choice and thoughts on it to help me out.

Thanks

Hi, I'm 25 weeks pregnant and had both my swine flu jab and seasonal flu jab on Thursday night. Apart from the really sore red arm on the side I had the sf jab, I was climbing the walls last night til 5am with anxiety, heart beating at what felt like 5,000 beats a minute and difficulty breathing. Not sure if this is just anxiety due to having to make the decision of having the jab or a reaction to it but thought I should let you know... Feel much better today and NHS direct were BRILLIANT! They said it was normal to have a reaction and that the difficulty breathing could be due to baby putting pressure on my lungs, so they talked me through it and made me feel a whole lot better. Baby did somersaults all night which apparently is a good sign!

Hi 22 weeks and WILL be having the jab.

I would much rather not have swine flu as it can be mych more harmful to pregnant women, and even if you have the antivirals the side effects are horrendus ( nausea vomiting diaorrhea).

Also the swine flu vaccine is an INACTIVE vaccine which means only part of the vaccine is the bit which makes us immune and protects us from swine flu. We are NOT being injected with the swine flu virus!

Obviously its down to personal choice and any other risk factors. Hope this helps x

I had mine this morning. Beginning to get a bit of a headache and arm is aching.

I trust in medical experts. Even though they are not infallible, I do believe they are sincere, that they have my best interests at heart and they understand all the issues in ways I cannot.

I think it is unfair to suggest that a lay- person without the benefit of years of medical training is any way equipped to make such an important decision.

If the worst happens while following medical advice, then you are unlucky. If you go against the advice of experts with years of relevant experience and the worst happens, there's only one person to blame and that's you..

Apologies if this has already been covered but does anyone know how long it takes for Pandemrix to be effective (I noticed that in waitingwaiting's post from Friday she mentioned 14 days). I'm 37+2 and at a large GPs surgery where they're working through the highest risk patients now before looking at pg women so there's a reasonable chance that I'll give birth, or be very close to it, before I'm offered it. Also slightly worried about side effects and flu like symptoms just before giving birth.

Hi Ladies - thank you for all the information. I'm booked to have mine next Sat, and have been worrying myself silly, but it's good to hear from those of you who've had it and all's been well. Please do keep updating us with your experiences and with any info from your PCTs - I'm going to push mine for any updated info too. Thanks so much x

catz I'm not sure about the time lag before full protection is achieved, but I had my jab at 40+1 (still overdue now at 40+9!). I wouldn't worry too much about side effects. The sore arm would be the most debilitating during labour in that it might make you re-think some positions or require extra support on that side. Otherwise I felt headachy the first evening, occasionally a bit nauseous and sniffly over the next few days and tired. Basically symptoms I couldn't separate from being full-term pregnant.

Conversely my mum has swine 'flu and seems to have taken a bad hit from it. She's had a temp of 109F for 6 days that medication isn't touching. She can't keep anything down, her muscle spasms are leaving her in agony all over and is occasionally disorientated. She hasn't been out of bed for days.

Now I've had the jab I know that I won't have to endure anything like that and deal with breastfeeding a newborn. I also know that my newborn will receive some protection through my breastmilk should I come into contact with the SF virus. So despite my reservations about pandemrix, on balance I feel at ease.

HTH

Had SF jab (Pandemrix) on Wednesday (at 38+2) and have had an averagely sore arm (still managed to sleep on left side though, mostly noticed it when going to close the car boot - kept having to swap arms!) and felt just slightly headachey for a day or two but so slight it was barely noticeable.

I am guessing that whilst it takes a couple of weeks to reach full protection, presumably the level of protection increases gradually over that fortnight (need a medical person to give an answer to this though - anyone know?).

Thanks Hobnob and Stormfly. I will see what I can do to get an appointment when I see my m/w this week, the possibility of protection for the newborn is one of the most significant factors for me (though having spent all this time thinking it through and weighing risks, it looks as if it's quite likely that the surgery simply won't have enough until too late).

Catz after one dose of Pandemrix about 80% of people will have an antibody level that's assumed to be protective in 14 days.

hi, had my sf jag on sat and apart from a sore arm and a couple of fretful nights sleep am fine. have to say feel reassured. One of DH's employees has just phoned in with SF (caught from his BinLaw who works @ hospital but didn't have his vacinnation). Good luck to everyone else in making their decision and thanks for all the information in this thread. Was both helpful and informative. Would suggest that anyone whose had the jag avoid "Is anyone in 2 minds about the SF jag thread". Scary, angry and not supportive, whatever your position is.

HI everyone. I had decided to have it - am 26 weeks today. Have it booked for tomorrow. But just read on a portuguese paper that a woman lost her baby at 34 weeks 3 days after having the vaccine. The family says that she felt lots of movement straight after the vaccine and then nothing....

The hospital claim that they can't prove any relation, but they would, wouldn't they?.... Autopsy results are due mid this week.

Does anyone know if there are other vaccines, safe for pregnant ladies, that have a comparable amount of adjuvants as Pandermix?

Hiya, after much umming and ahhing i will be having my vaccination on Wed. Would have liked to have waited a bit longer as am only 19 weeks but theres no way i want to risk the winter and its impending swine flu cases!
I have read sooo much information on this, including the deranged conspiracy theories, and i am now quite satisfied that it is a bigger risk to not protect me and baby for the next 6 months.
I was also very surprised to find out the Anti-D injection has the same mercury based ingredient in it which has obviously been used millions of times on rhesus negative women, including myself, so that made me feel slightly more at ease.
My surgery is pretty big and has ONLY been given 50!!! doses until they get a bigger shipment in a few weeks so i count myself pretty lucky to have been at a midwife appointment on the morning they found out so i was booked in straight away.
Hopefully i wont suffer too many side effects from the jab, i will post on the other thread about side effects once ive had it! Ahh, good luck to everyone else going ahead, i think you're definitely making the right decision!

Interesting point on post code lottery here. The poster above is correct as noted by others- all surgeries despite size appear to have been given 10 vials, each containing ten doses (500 doses in total). My surgery has 15,000 people on the registry and is thus not sending invites, it's simply first come first serve. They have yet to roll out Celvapan and will be doing so any day now to two clinics in the borough after you get a referral from your GP. I was told in no uncertain terms this is for egg allergy sufferers only and my concerns on the mercury were brushed aside. This seems to be the general approach to mums' concerns, as shown by the Saturday Times article this week.

Hi

I'm 17 weeks with my 2nd baby and have decided not to have the swine flu jab. As I teach in a college with lots of sickly students coming back every autumn I am routinely offered the ordinary flu jab however I have never taken this up as my colleagues who do seem more prone to getting colds, flu and viruses and usually (touch wood) I manage to escape relatively unscathed. It's a really difficult one but I'm taking my chances with lots of orange juice and hot honey, lemon and ginger at the first signs of any cold syptoms.

Lots of love to everyone trying make this tough decision right now

I want to know the percentages of healthy pregnant women who are dying. The only "further" information I've been able to get about any of this is that the first pregnant woman in the UK to die from SF was quadraplegic - so she was possibly not in the best of health anyway.

I'm ~5 weeks and haven't a clue.

I had a consultant appt today but had totally forgot to ask about the swine flu jab

Ooops i did mean to say 500 doses like oremstango pointed out!
To Skihorse.. i know the percentage of pregnant women who are dying from swine flu is probably tiny but im more worried by what effects being on a ventilator and being in intensive care would do for an unborn baby if i were to get really ill from it.
I read a quote somewhere on a swine flu topic that being pregnant is classified as an 'underlying illness' (great!) which would mean that while reports state that the women were suffering from an underlying medical condition...it would actually mean the pregnancy in itself!
Its very confusing. I think i should stop reading all the news reports and things at least until after ive had my jab so i dont keep worrying myself!
I found this website after looking at the New Scientist articles and i thought it was quite reassuring: antiantivax.flurf.net/#Influenza_and_H1N1
It also explains a bit about the nasty things put into vaccines if you go to the top.
Ok. Im going to stop looking at these topics now!!

33 weeks. Just had it. Slightly achey arm. Everything else ok.

Stormfly I don't think there is any data about how quickly it starts to work other than that maximum immunity is reached after 21 days in 98% of people.

My doctor said that the body starts producing antibodies immediately the same day as the vaccine and protection increases until the point where you can be considered to have as full protection as you're going to get.

So, every day you're better protected than the day before basically but you might get very very very unlucky and still catch the virus in the early days after the vaccine.

I've read that the unborn baby is protected by the mother's antibodies directly through the placenta within 7 days, and this continues to be boosted via breastmilk where relevant. Sorry can't remember where, I have been suffering from swine flu fatigue since I had the jab myself (20 days ago ).

Impending dilemma is whether to take my 3 year old son for vaccination tomorrow. Gulp.

Here's the Times article - I agree that it's weighted towards the benefits, but I personally found the link to MHRA given by Jeff Green on the comments below quite useful - eg updates on any ill-effects reported (albeit voluntarily) by individuals, health professionals etc.

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6916621.ece

Good luck everyone in your decisions. I think I've finally decided to go for it, tho like most people I'd hold out for Celvepan if I could (but probably won't get much choice).

I've been booked in to get the first dose of Celvapan on Friday. I'm 32wks pregnant.

I am due to have my vaccine tomorrow and thought I had made my decision and was happy with it but all I have done today is worry and stress about if I am making the right decision. Did anyone else feel like this?

Sorry can't help you decide

26 weeks and have had it.

Right. I have been stalking talking to both my pct and gp, they refuse to let me have Celvapan. My surgery hasn't even ordered any apparently. My pct simply says that Pandemrix is safe, so I shouldn't question it.

If anyone has any ideas as to how I could get my hands on Celvapan in Kent or London, please let me know!