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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Swine Flu Jab - Should I Shouldn't I?

22 replies

clpsmum · 02/03/2010 18:39

just recently found out am pregnant and really nto sure what to do about swine flue jab any advice would be very greatly appreciated.

OP posts:

birdofthenorth · 02/03/2010 18:42

I did at 8 weeks. No harm done that I know of. There was lots of swine flu locally at the time which affected my decision.

BellasYummyMummy · 02/03/2010 19:28

i had it done at 26 weeks, am now full term. My 21 month DD also had it and is fine. I think it's died down a lot since it all began, though my GP is adamant there's going to be another wave of it in the spring but who knows if thats true or not.

mummyof2byapril · 02/03/2010 19:37

I was offered it several months ago, I did not get it as I don't think there's been enough research into it and I felt that they just wanted to use us as their guinniepigs.

Me (with 35week bump) and my 3 yr old have not been vaxed! :-o
As yet..

ladyjadey · 03/03/2010 09:21

I have refused it for myself (15wk pg) my DD nearly 4, and taking into account that I am a nurse and regularly in contact with lots of ill people. The way I look at it, if I can only take paracetamol and not even cough medicine is tested or licensed for use in pregnancy, no way on earth is anyone sticking vaccines in me or my kids that are subject to very few clinical trials.

I have never had a flu jab, every year several staff members in my hospital have them, and every year a significant proportion of them become ill in the days following. Not for me.

nickytwotimes · 03/03/2010 09:24

Had it at 10 wks.

Ds also had it (aged 3).

No side effects whatsoever. Well, bloody sore arm.

As for it being untested - it is even weaker than normal flu vaccine which is given out routinely in USA and has been for years without problems.

Personal choice though - you have to be comfortable with your choice. SF could make a ressurgence or it might not.

SkaterGrrrrl · 03/03/2010 13:26

I've had it. No harm done. I certainly dont need swine flu on top of pregnancy!

I also had the MMR when trying to conceive. If you can be innoculated against something nasty, why wouldnt you?

iggypiggy · 03/03/2010 13:36

I have chosen not to have it - following the advice of my doctor. Anyway he said to wait until after 15 weeks, then reasses the situation - which I did, and he said he thought it prob wasn't worth it. Am currently 20 weeks.

I am not against vaccinations in any way, but i have followed the advice I was given - and I agree with it.

Obviously I am sure there is no harm in having it - but i don't think you can say no harm has been done until alot further down the line! (Not having a go a previous posters, just an observation!)

Chynah · 03/03/2010 15:14

I had it (Celvepan)at 20+ weeks. Don't think I'll bother getting DS done though as the panic surrounding SF seems to have died down.

lumpasmelly · 03/03/2010 18:02

I had it done on the the advice of my obstetrician and also 2 friends who are also obstetricians (practicing in the US). Had it done at 19 weeks and no side effects. Also had DS1 and DS2 done this week as baby is now due in 6 weeks and don't want them to catch it with new baby in the house (even though I think she has some immunity from me). Think it's a personal decision - you can read as many scare stories about flu/swine flu as you can about the dangers of vaccination. Depends what you feel comfortable with!

Stickhasgrownup · 03/03/2010 18:06

I'm 14 weeks and haven't had it yet.
I haven't ruled it out, but I probably won't have it unless swine flu comes back big time. As things stand at the moment I don't think the vaccine is worth the risk... but as I said I'll reassess if things change.

SunnyMonday · 03/03/2010 18:45

Hello. Have a look the NHS advice:
www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Pandemic-flu/Pages/Adviceforpregnantwomen.aspx

And the bottom of this page:
www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Pandemic-flu/Pages/Vaccine.aspx

I'm not aware of any actual evidence against anything said on those pages.

The swineflu vaccine is made in the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine so there should be no difference in safety between the two (flu viruses are basically the same each year, wearing different "clothes" - it's the outside bit of the virus that your body recognises if it's seen it before by being vaccinated, so your immune system gets a head-start on knocking it out).

Obviously it's your choice, but there really doesn't seem there's anything to suggest it's unsafe.

SunnyMonday · 03/03/2010 18:46

Sorry, as links:
Advice for pregnant women
About the vaccine

Principle · 03/03/2010 19:00

I'm 16weeks I didn't get it done either, agree with mummyof2byapril

pandora69 · 03/03/2010 20:32

I was umming and ahing, and then a friend died of Swine Flu. (She had other health problems too, but so did I after having DD.) I was told this last week - getting the vaccine for me and DD is now on my to do list.

5DollarShake · 03/03/2010 20:40

No clinical trials?

Not enough research?

The flu vaccine has been around for aeons and no ill effects. This just has the H1N1 (swine flu) strain added in.

I had it at 10 weeks pregnant.

5DollarShake · 03/03/2010 20:42

Also, the reason incidence of swine flu has gone down is probably because people are being vaccinated...

iggypiggy · 04/03/2010 09:35

5dollar correct me if am wrong - but my understanding is the flu vaccine is made new each year - depending on the type of flu they decide needs vaccinating against (ie. which strain looks likely to affect us). It takes a while to be developed each year for each new strain. So whilst the vaccine base may be the same - there is always new 'active' elemnts each year. So you can't say the vaccine has been around for aeons cos it's new each year? Pregnant women aren't reglularly injected with the seasonal flu vaccine - and clearly there are no clinical trials involving pregnant women.

Incidentally, my dad, who is a consultant, has always told me to steer clear of the seasonal flu vaccine - which i have been offered when i worked for the NHS - so I tend to steer clear. He is v. much in favour of all other vaccines.

I am not saying the flu vaccine is dangerous - clearly it isn't. I'm just sharing the advice I have had, i would suggest everyone follows the advice of their GP/ health professional.

SunnyMonday · 04/03/2010 10:00

iggypiggy - (5dollar, hope you don't mind me replying). It depends on the strain of flu. As I sort of explained in my other post it's really about making the immune system aware of the proteins on the surface of the flu virus so when it encounters a live one it's able to deal with it. The base virus they use doesn't change, just the surface proteins. The shape of these surface proteins changes slightly from strain to strain - that's how the virus avoids your immune system - so each year they take a guess at which strain's going to be the predominant one and grow up a vaccine using the surface proteins from that strain. There aren't any new active elements per-se, it's more like saying "last year I showed you a picture of potatoes, this year I'm showing you one of onions, in the same picture frame, now bloody remember it".

The seasonal flu vaccine isn't generally recommended if you don't need it (i.e. have no risk factors, like being old or having a weakened immune system), but as swine-flu was disproportionately causing complications in pregnant women the NHS did start recommending it.

I agree though that of course you should follow the advice of your GP

bouncingblueberries · 04/03/2010 10:07

I had it when I was 6 weeks pregnant and ds had it last week. Really didn't want to take the risk (due to complications from swine flu reported in pregnant women as mentioned by SunnyMonday)

GP also mentioned that they've been advised that Swine Flu is likely to be the prevalent strain over the next 3 years.

iggypiggy · 04/03/2010 10:07

Yes - I think if SF became more prevalent again I would reasses my choice - my consultant said that he was advising people to have it after 15 weeks, but that he now thought it wasn't worth me having it as the SF incidence has dropped off so much...

Albrecht · 04/03/2010 10:09

Some pregnant women are given seasonal flu jab if they have other health issues. Have been doing this for years.

Clinical trials cannot be targetted at preg women - would be unethical. But the swine flu jab trials have included women who were unknowingly pregnant or became pregnant during the trial and no problems have been found with them and babies.

see here www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_107825.pdf

SqueezyB · 04/03/2010 17:32

I turned it down for both me (27 weeks pregnant) and DD (22 months). I did a lot of research and it didn't convince me, in the end I went with my gut feeling.

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