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Speaking from experience, being pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic is extremely scary. Everyone has concerns and worries because of the virus. Now add pregnancy to the mix and it concludes to massive stress.
Every pregnant woman knows that their immune system lowers while they are pregnant. This is not something they want with the pandemic happening. However, hope may be on the horizon. Especially, with what the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director — Anthony Fauci — has stated.
On Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, Fauci stated that roughly 20,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated. That number is just in the United States alone.
On February 1, Fauci announced that he did not see any “red flags” for people to receive the vaccine during pregnancy. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has laid out the increased risks pregnancy has if COVID-19 is contracted.
These illnesses include Intensive Care Unit admissions, mechanical ventilation, and death. This is compared to those who are not pregnant. Additional adverse pregnancy outcomes that could also happen is preterm births.
Of course, this information does not help subside any fears one may have during their pregnancy. Again this would be speaking from experience since this reporter is just a little over six months pregnant.
The Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech vaccines have been tested on animals during their pregnancy. These studies suggest receiving the vaccine while pregnant is safe. Researchers have just now begun testing these medicines on women who are lactating and pregnant.
However, it has been made clear that experts do not believe these vaccines will cause any harm to infants and fetal growth or development. Now, this just leaves a mother to make the hard decision. To inoculate or not.
So many questions have yet been answered. Will this affect the child at a later date? Is it truly safe to take during the pregnancy? Along with many similar questions. The only answer there is; is only time will tell.
However, many experts feel that with today’s technology it is safe to take. Most feel the vaccine will be no different than receiving the flu shot — and other similar vaccines — during one’s pregnancy.
Does this information ease a pregnant woman’s mind? Not completely, however, it does give them something to think about.
Written by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
CDC: Vaccination Considerations for People who are Pregnant or Breastfeeding
USA Today: Should pregnant women get the COVID-19 vaccine? Dr. Anthony Fauci sees ‘no red flags’ in safety data; by Adrianna Rodriguez
AMA: Importance of COVID vaccine during pregnancy & breast feeding
Featured Image Courtesy of Yada Liao’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of LEONARDO DASILVA’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License