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

Gosh I'm so confused now.....i wish it were more clear cut!

I'm 27 weeks and still undecided. I came here thinking it was a no but having read some of the stories and comments, I am now a maybe/ see how.

Just wanted to say that I don't know the technicalities of how the flu and the innoculations work. A few ppl keep saying that they are "like seasonal flu jabs" and without intending to be inflammatory, that these work exactly the same way and that they are as safe for PG women. Is this based on the scientific research or what you read on a website/ in the paper?

I'm not anti-vaccination and my kids will have the MMR jab despite the statistical risk of that but I am still confused as to whether we are genuinely more at risk (as JuliaG says above) and therefore that outweighs the statistical risk posed by having the jab.

I thought that the NHS site gave the Glaxo jab (Pandemrix) as the one they were giving to pg women, not Calvapan.

I'm also usually very pro-vaccination but I'm concerned that having the jab might make me ill enough to kick off early labour. I've only ever had 'proper' flu once (I'm 34), no underlying health problems and I live in a rural area with a very low infection rate in the summer, so I think that the chances of catching it in the few weeks left of my pregnancy are low.

(goes off to check info on NHS site...)

Here

Pandemrix (Glaxo) rather than Celvapan (Baxter) approved for pg women.

I'm 26 weeks and i won't be having it.

I'm not sure of it's safety and i'd rather take my chances with swine flu.

GP friend who is also a mum is recommending as long as it's the WHO one and she doesn't think it will a problem obtaining it and implied that it will be set aside for pg women. Feeling a bit more reassured.

After reading some of the posts now I am thinking maybe I should have the jab.

I suppose I have my 16 mo dd to think about more then anything and if I did catch swine flu because I wasnt vaccinated and died it would be awful for her.

I will check to see if a petition to have the safer vaccine has been started, if not I will get one going and post the link...

I have started a petition on the No 10 website. Once its been approved I will post the link on here.

I have basically asked for pregnant women to have Celvapan and not Pandemrix.

Fingers crossed...

JuliaGulia - really anti D??!! I have had lots of bleeding in this pregnancy and had LOADS of anti D as a result.....got me worried now

I read with interest on this blog that there is debate about whether to have the swineflu jab and which one to have. Mothers have already observed that one of the jabs contains Thiomersal (mercury compound).

Having campaigned for several years in the late nineties for the removal of this material from infant jabs I was pleased when it was withdrawn in 2004. However its manner of withdrawal (overnight 31 Aug 2004 with total replacement by Thiomersal-free jabs) all at three weeks notice and without explanation seemed odd.

Prior to that date I had written to 250 or more researchers, medics, DOH, HPA etc asking about the prevalence of autism in unvaccinated people. The singularity of their response, that is no acknowledgment of the question was somewhat sinister and telling.

Today I continue to ask the question how many of an estimated three million individuals who have never had childhood vaccinations (since 1966) are autistic? Is it nought? I believe it is and this would explain why no detailed response can ever be given by those agencies to resolve the MMR debate (little part in autism but possibly some) or to say which swineflu jabs pregnant mums or infants should or should not take.

Tony Bateson

Please don't hijack this thread and turn it into an anti vaccination rant. I think it is unethical and dangerous that some people still try to link absolutely various syndromes (autism) with vaccines. It is scaremongering.

In Japan the MMR vaccine was banned and the rates of autism continued to rise.
www.newscientist.com/article/dn7076-autism-rises-despite-mmr-ban-in-japan.html#

No we don't know fully about autism, recent studies have found, age of mother/father, environmental and genetic factors,amongst others as probable cause. The only study which linked autism to vaccines has been discredited and the author himself withdrew (Andrew Wakefield) his findings.

I think there are unknowns but your post doesn't help. This is a hard enough choice for parents.

I don't think his post is antivax
More anti thiomersal

Heard this story on the news a few months ago, so apologies that I can't remember the exact numbers.

In the US in the 70's tens of millions of people were vaccinated against swine flu. Approx 100 died as a result of complications of the vaccine, but only something like one person died of the flu itself. Put like this it all sounds pretty scary...but the media are so very fond of twisting statistics to give a dramatic story.

100ish out of ten of millions is an extremely low death rate
Had all those people not been vaccinated the death rate from the flu itself would have been higher
The risk of death from swine flu in pregnant women is higher (I think there have been two deaths in the last week in the UK?)
There have been a lot of advances made since the 70s in production and testing of vaccines

I'm 11 weeks pregnant and asthmastic. For the reasons given above I'm happy to take the better odds and will be having the vaccine

Didn't mean this to sound like a rant or a lecture...just setting out my thought process

im sure if you could ask the 21 year old welsh woman that died shortly after the birth of her baby, of swine flu, if she would have had the jab.... what do you think she would say now? There was nothing wrong with her before swine flu. Do you think that the 100 odd british people that have died would like to hear that some of you think ' its been blown all out of proportion?' .

how many pregnant women have you heard of that have died of swine flu - quite a few. How many people in the last twenty years have been harmed by a flu vaccination?

Obvioulsy its a personal choice, but with a roughly one in three chance of getting swine flu, and the chance of getting seriously ill, i'll definatley be taking the jab, and I will definately be getting my children vaccinated too.

No bloody way, will hibenate if there is any out breaks in my area.
Someone else might have put this but remember Filidamide untested morning sickness jab that left thousands with disabilities. The government has never paid out or even taken resposibility for that jab.
Its very unlikely any of us will ever get swine flu just dont put yourself in a place with any out break of anything D&V, Flu anything!

Putting yourself out of harm's way is a nice theory but not very practical if you have a job and have to commute in London by tube every day!

Am 22 weeks pregnant and change my mind on a weekly basis. Lately though the advice does seem to be to have the jab as you are much more likely to get Swine Flu and possible complications than to have side effects from the jab. Have been watching CBS News and in the US - where they have been back at school and college for a while and where the weather in some parts has been colder than here - their findings show that 46% of cases which have been hospitalised have had no underlying conditions. Also, in many cases people have a mild dose but you never can tell who will be the ones unlucky enough to die - and these have mainly been children and younger adults.

Since starting this thread I have lost sleep over my decision and I came to my own conclusion last night that isnt great.

I am going to have the jab no matter which one they offer.

My thoughts are - I have a 16mo dd who I love to pieces and have to put first. I thought about how she would feel if I died from swine flu because I refused a jab that would have saved me.

If it does affect my unborn baby it is a small risk to take when our lives could be in danger form catching the flu.

I will now be first in line when they offer it as I would rather preserve my life for my lovely dd who I already have.

I am 37 weeks pregnant, I wont be having the swine flu jab.

I'm 12 weeks and will not be having the vaccine! If they will not give the seasonal vaccine to pregnant woman (I usually get it every year as I'm asthmatic) then why is the swine flu one any safer? I spoke to my doctor about it and she is more than happy with my decision!

I have 10 more weeks at work, commuting for an hour on the train into London every day. I am really getting freaked out by everyone sneezing and coughing around me and really want the jab. I feel it would just be a matter of time to catch it, and feel I have been lucky not catching it so far. I am really pedantic about washing my hands once I get not the office / home and get my husband to do the same, and try to keep my hands out of my face while I am on public transport. At least that should minimise the risk. But what do you do if someone just coughs or sneezes near you?

But I see what is being written about Pandremix which makes me think again if I should have the jab if they can't give me the Celvapan.

Does anyone know if Celvepan is available at all? Maybe we just need to insits on getting it instead.

Am also pregnant and work in the NHS so will be offered it. Am also not sure about being able to refuse it in case I pass it on to patients. Just seems to be so much conflicting information, and just because they say it's safe, doesn't mean it is. Would really rather not have any vaccine when pregnant as they can't be sure it won't have some harmful effect on the baby. But, is it being irresponsible and putting my own life at risk by not having it?

I feel that there is a certain amount of scaremongering going on about the two SF deaths of pregnant women. Firstly, do we know why they died? Perhaps they did not look after themselves well (and I state this in a factual way, not a judgmental way) - they may not have been properly hydrated, etc etc, which would have caused serious complications. You cannot simply use their deaths as a rationale for vaccinating every pregnant woman, until you actually know the facts. If someone on this thread does know the full facts about these deaths, please elucidate us. Otherwise, please just shut up until you know what you're talking about.

Let me give you an example of what I mean about looking after oneself during illness: yesterday my DH and I were discussing his experience of tonsillitis, which landed him in hospital on a drip with such severe dehydration that his muscles tensed up and the nurses struggled to get an IV line into him. I have recently had a horrific bout of tonsillitis, with an apparently rare (according to my GP) secondary gland infection. I cried and cried from the pain of tonsillitis; it was unbearable (my drug-free childbirth was a doddle by comparison). But, because I looked after myself properly, I was never at risk of hospitalisation. Knowing my DH, he most likely did not look after himself as well as he should have during his tonsillitis episode - I forced myself to take fluids despite the pain; DH would not have.

So it is quite possible - likely, even, that the deaths of these two young women could have been prevented with proper care, but at the moment we simply don't know.

Finally, on this thread there are at least two posters who have had SF in pregnancy and survived. At least two - which should balance out the statistics, shouldn't it? Please be open-minded about this issue so that we can have a proper, informed and thoughtful debate.

On a separate point, I've just successfully avoided developing a cold again with my CV exercise approach (Rinder!!! Where are youuuu?? ). This is now the fourth time in a row that it's worked. I have no idea whether the bugs I have tackled (and beat ) over the past few months could have been SF bugs - they never had a chance to develop. But for anyone who's preg (or not!) and wishing to avoid developing colds, etc, I highly recommend it. I'll repeat here for those who missed it:

As soon as you first feel the bugs coming along (usually you'll feel a tingly/ itchy soft palate), do 5-10 mins cardiovascular exercise. You can dance, run, cycle - anything, really. If you break out into a sweat, all the better. The goal here is to raise your body temp so that you kick-start an immediate immune response which is strong enough to overpower the bugs at this early stage.

Even if it doesn't work, it won't harm you! One word of caution, though - if you have symptoms below the throat, apparently you should avoid CV exercise as it can make your condition a lot worse.

I'll try and find some info about the CV 'cure' thing - will post later.

Its not that they think the SF jab is safer! its that swine flu is much more deadly for pg women and children, normally it is the old, ill or infirm that die of seasonal flu!

thalidomide was before i was born, and i think medical science has come a long way since then. Think of all the other jabs we get...anyone had a deadly reaction? why are we so worried about a jab? Anyone that thinks swine flu is just the same as seasonal flu is obviously not very well informed. Look at the figures.'There was a total of 667 new patients hospitalised in England (only england) with suspected pandemic influenza in the week from 08-14 October' (taken from the HPA website)'The highest hospitalisation rates have consistently been in the under 5-year age group, and have increased in this group recently. 'And dont jump on the 'suspected' in this line... what other illness is severe enough to hospitalise that many people in one week at this time of year (flu season hasnt really even started yet). This situation is only going to get worse unless we are jabbed and thus the virus gets eradicated, saving so much suffering (at least 667 people a week )

PS: my doctor told me that not only will the jab protect me, but it would also protect my baby until it was 6 months of age at least.