Getting Vaccinated While Pregnant: What you need to know

For pregnant women, the worry of the effects of the Covid-19 vaccine on their unborn baby is perfectly legitimate. This article serves to assure that it is beneficial and safe to get the Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women. As the pandemic has already been ongoing for at least 2 years, many studies have been conducted on the effects of the vaccine on pregnant women, its effectiveness in dealing with Covid-19, and the difference of the effects of Covid-19 on vaccinated and unvaccinated pregnant women. 

Use of the vaccine

The Covid-19 vaccine assists in greatly reducing the risk of getting severe illness from Covid-19. Severe illness refers to requiring hospitalization, intensive care, needing special equipment or a ventilator to breathe, or illness that results in death. Being fully vaccinated also reduces the chance of getting infected, and infecting others. 

Antibodies for newborns

Researchers from New York University (NYU) had conducted a study that found another benefit for pregnant women to get vaccinated, and that is that their newborns have high levels of antibodies, for newborns whose mothers received either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. With antibodies, the newborns have a better chance of fighting off Covid-19 if they were to be afflicted with it. This is an extremely beneficial finding that should be encouraging for pregnant women to get the vaccine.

CDC report

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have also published a new report. In this report, which included the health outcomes of over 40,000 pregnant women, it was found that there was no associated link between the vaccines and preterm birth or low birth weight. As such, pregnant women can rest assured that the vaccine would not be causing said negative effects on the newborn. 

Non-vaccinated pregnant women with Covid-19 face severe negative effects 

Pregnancy decreases the immune state of the pregnant woman. As such, it also means that compared to the general population, pregnant women face an increased risk of complications from Covid-19, as their immune system have a more difficult time fighting off Covid-19. Pregnant women with a coronavirus infection, studies have found, have a higher risk of intubation, preterm birth, stillbirth, hospitalization, preeclampsia, and maternal death. 

The bottom-line

As studies have shown that it is beneficial for pregnant women to get the Covid-19 vaccine, with no found negative effects on newborns, it is highly encouraged for those who are pregnant to get the vaccine if they are able to. Prevention is better than cure, as they say, and taking the vaccine is a better choice for pregnant women, as those who are pregnant yet unvaccinated face a much higher risk of negative effects should they get Covid-19.