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

My wife is 14 weeks pregnant and I've been trying to keep up to speed with the latest on the vaccination advice.

It all boils down to what has previously been touched on in this discussion; the WHO (World Health Organisation) has given the thumbs up to Celvapan, but not Pandemrix as it contains the chemical which could in theory be harmful to a fetus. However, the government health people have said it is fine and tested. But it is widely accepted that the WHO carry more clout on matters such as these so I will be following their advice.

As it stands, apparently pregnant women will not be able to choose between the two vaccines. I will be pushing for Celvapan and if they cannot give is this vaccine, then as it stands I will want my wife to go without. I'm sure their will be a way of getting it if you apply some pressure on the NHS.

Interestingly, other EU countries have set aside the Celvapan specifically for pregnant women. I hope the UK follow suit.

essentially..this is a crafty way of carrying out a drug trial on pregnant women by vaccinating us with an unlicensed(for use on pregnant women) untested vaccination..then what will happen if it proves to be terategenic? it will be withdrawn for use in pregnancy..but not before the damage has been done

its one of those..benefits outweigh the risks jobbys

I am totally confused having just had a midwife appointment. She said that the advice they are being given is contradictory too, and her advice was to read as much as possible and make an informed decision.

If my health professional can't give me a list of the reasons for and against, then I'm not feeling that confident about having it. She said to me that SF is just a variant of seasonal flu, that people die of seasonal flu every year, and that will include some pregnant people - regardless of whether or not it is SF.

I do travel on the tube, I have a hole in my heart and a VSD, but I haven't had SF so far (even when supposedly 1 in 4 Londoners had it), so I feel that as long as I keep up my vitamin intake and carry on using my antibac hand stuff which I carry everywhere with me, I'll probably end up risking not having the jab......

It's so hard to know what to do for the best!

Most interesting, MN at its best, but still undecided. 22wk PG with 3YO and 1.5YO, DH exposed to medical profession and patients.

After reading all your experiences and info, I feel slightly less concerned about jab itself and side effects.

As I understand it though the jab has the benefit of protecting against the relatively mild current strain, which I feel we could put up with, but also the potentially more dangerous mutations. Is this right does anyone know?

I've been told by my consultant that I CAN'T have it because i am pregnant, which is rather misleading....especially as she is the head of obstetrics at a large hospital!!! I really think that the UK needs to get it's story straight re. the safety of the jab.....part of me worries that the decision to give the jab has been based upon a cost based risk assessment (i.e. number of pregnant woman who WILL end up in intensive care due to Swine Flu versus number of babies that MIGHT be impacted by the jab at some point in the future)....in terms of the big picture, it's probably a no brainer to give the jab....but this doesn't excuse the fact that they are asking pregnant women to risk the health of their unborn children for the "good of the state".

18 weeks and on balance I am planning to have it. I don't officially have any other health issues but every time I have had flu it's been really bad, so that's a factor. Also, I have a child at nursery and a DP who teaches, so they may well be exposed to it. I'm a little bit worried but will ask the advice of the MW/doc etc at the time about possible risks, and see what they say.

I have the ordinary flu jab each year and the one year I didn't, when I was just over 20 weeks pregnant I got 'flu and ended up in hospital for the night. Baby was fine but my major high temperature made him really tachycardic and I hadn't felt him move for over 24 hours (this was petrifying).

He is now 19 months and doesn't seem to have suffered from that bout of maternal 'flu.

I'm now 13 weeks and will be having the ordinary 'flu jab sometime next week. I work as a locum healthcare prof. in lots of different hospitals in London and so I knowI am at high risk of getting it, swine version or not!

btw the only healthcare professional I have asked so far is a friend who is an NHS doctor and has recently had a baby. She said she will be getting it, would have done if she was still pg, and advised me to.

Undecided, at 24 wks, a slight underlying chest condition which means I would normally be recommended for seasonal flu jabs.

Given that seasonal flu effects on pregnancy and the use of seasonal flu injections are well documented (though must admit I haven't yet seen a clear summary), my two key questions are:

• Is SF considered to be significantly worse in its impacts on an unborn child than seasonal flu?
• how different is the content of the SF vaccine to the seasonal flu vaccine?

I don't think it's quite fair to berate the government for pushing untested drugs on expectant mothers. After all... it's a new strain, they can't magic up a research method for looking at the long term effects. All they can do is try to be clear about what they know about existing vaccines, and what the potential differences might be. And we all have a choice (albeit a hobsons choice).

8 weeks

Currently undecided and only in first trimester anyway but will be keeping a close eye on the HPA reports over the next few weeks.

Still undecided. Dh is a hospital dr and has been advising against until he explored the lit re swine flu in pregnancy and the significantly increased maternal mortality rate. I think we will probably say yes but only if cevlopan ... Nothing as yet from my GP but I guess there will be something in the post in the next week. I'm nearly 23wks but we have 3 other children to think about as well.

All very interesting - thanks for everyone's comments. Does anyone know what factors make you more likely to develop severe complications (esp death!) if you don't have underlying health problems? Or is it impossible to predict who would be affected this way?

19 weeks and not having it. Have thought long and hard about it as also have asthma so a double whammy of worry (and I am worried but then I worry about everything ) but to be honest I don't want to risk it.

The UK gov't is offering Pandemrix which combines the vaccine with an adjuvant untested on pg woman. There is an alternative called Celvapen which just contains the vaccine (i.e. the sf virus in a small dose) but this is not going to be so readily available in the UK (perhaps money based decision, I have no idea though!?!?) even though the World Health Organisation recommend that this IS the one that should be given to pg women, and not the Pandemrix. If I did change my mind on the vaccine then I would be following the advice of WHO and insisting on Celvapen as the risks are reduced. If this isn't available on the NHS then I wont be having the vaccine. I have spent the last four and a half months avoiding cheese, alcohol and paracetamel for the health of my little bump - I am not about to start pumping my body full of chemicals that haven't been properly researched.

I have also spoken to my lovely doctor who is also pg and asked, off the record, if she would have it and she said no (however, this was hypothetical as she had sf when she was 16 weeks pg anyway). I appreciated her honesty.

On a separate issue, GlaxoSmithKline who make tamiflu and the vaccines have just posted large profits compared to previous years

Undecided, and don't see how I can make a decision based on the information currently available!

(also scared as hell of having it, and of not having it. Either way, I lose!)

Could petition No 10 for Cervlepan to be reserved for pregnant women only?

23 weeks, and no, I am not having it. Nor will I go for the flu jab this year. Just too many uncertainties of what it might do to the baby.

These links might be useful to people wanting to read more detailed information about the data available for the vaccines:

www.emea.europa.eu/ click on the product names and then look at the patient information leaflet or, if you want more information, the summary of product characteristics.

If you want even more detail about the studies carried out then see:

www.emea.europa.eu/humandocs/Humans/EPAR/focetria/focetria.htm

www.emea.europa.eu/humandocs/Humans/EPAR/pandemrix/pandemrix.htm

www.emea.europa.eu/humandocs/Humans/EPAR/celvapan/celvapan.htm

then click on scientific discussion

I think that's a good idea JasHook about starting a petition at No10 for Celvapan to be used on pregnant women

I still don't know what the problem is with it...it's the same as any other flu shot as far as I understand, and while that particular strand of virus hasn't been tested for long-term, all the ones before have been fine so no reason to expect this one will be not.

My friend yesterday said there was a problem in the 70s with something similar which is the casue of the unrest, but didn't know particulars. Anybody has heard something there?

Comma2, I think the difference is you are in the US, where women are recommended to have the seasonal flu shot when pregnant. In the UK, women do not usually have it. In fact, we don't usually have anything. As someone else posted, we are warned about taking paracetamol when pregnant. So for most of us it is really out of our comfort zone and seems to go against a lot of previous advice re medication/ vaccination in pregnancy.

I am 34 weeks, and I think I will have it, if it's available in time for me.

There was swine flu in 1976 and pg women were vaccinated and there was a correlated rise in either mum or baby (can't remember which, this is very off the top of my head) developing guillaume barre syndrom which is a neurological autoimmune condition (don't know more than that).

Dh works in a high risk setting, I have two children in a busy city centre school and I work at a local University - not a good mix for avoiding SF! Dh's experience is that the media have been exceedingly restrained and is seeing masses of it at work.

I am 13 weeks and think I will have the jab.

I am worried about having it but more worried about what would happen if I wasn't around to look after the 2 children I already have.

Im 7 wks with 5th pregnancy after 4mmc in 2yrs...

Desperate to keep this pregnancy so really thinking wont have it as am off work on bedrest having weekly scans as it is... Will still ask consultants advice tho head screaming no way...

24 weeks and as it stands now I?ll be saying a very firm no thank you.

I don?t think the vaccines have been tested thoroughly enough.

Going to up my intake of vitamin C and make sure I keep my diet tip top so I?m as healthy as I can be to fend off any bugs, and continue to be as paranoid as I have been all summer about hand washing and using ani-bacterial liquid.

Well, I just got back from my 20 week Obst. appointment. She is telling mums to be that we should definitely have it and we're risking our own lives by simply saying no without any medical knowledge/training.
She said that we've been scared into not having it because of the problems in the 1970's/80's when they produced the vaccine in a very different way.
She also said no vaccine is ever tested on pregnant women so we're never going to get the data we all seek to reassure us. In many countries the seasonal flu jab is given to all pregnant women and it's made in exactly the same way. The reason they are urging more people our age to have it is that seasonal flu tends to affect elderly etc but swine flu's average profile is someone around 30 who has has less exposure/immunity to flu.
I also asked my friend who is a midwife and she says the risk of flu is pregnancy is very dangerous and can cause the loss of your baby so she thinks I should have the jab.
I was also interested to learn that the Anti D injection I'll be having at 28wks also contains some natsy ingredients such as mercury but none of us would consider saying no to that.
I'm not particularly pro jab but it's interesting to hear others opinions on the situation. Still taking a wait and see approach.