Many myths have arisen about the COVID-19 vaccine and pregnancy, and while one local doctor is working to eliminate it, a woman in Northern Virginia said a doctor asked her ‘facts’.
Many myths have arisen about the COVID-19 vaccine and pregnancy, and while one local doctor is working to eliminate it, a woman in Northern Virginia said her doctor asked “factual questions.”
It is important to know the truth because women who are pregnant and sick with COVID-19 are more likely than to die, be hospitalized or placed in a ventilator. Leaders of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology say the vaccines should not be withheld from pregnant women.
The V-safe health examiner after vaccination at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month had data on more than 30,000 pregnancies. “And they found no safety issues,” said Dr. Amy Banulis, an OBGYN with Kaiser Permanente at Falls Church, said. ‘Specifically, no unexpected pregnancy or baby outcomes and no increase in the rate of miscarriage. So it’s very, very reassuring. ”
She added: ‘COVID vaccine during pregnancy is considered absolutely safe. No risks were demonstrated. None of the vaccines currently approved – none of them are live vaccines, so there is no chance of getting sick from the vaccine. There is no chance that the baby will make your baby sick. ”
Another myth about the vaccine: it causes infertility. “That is absolutely not the case,” Banulis said. “It’s been refuted – a lot of good scientific studies have been done around it,” she said.
Another myth relates to the way mRNA vaccines, such as the COVID-19 vaccines, work by teaching cells how to make a protein or even just a piece of protein to elicit an immune response.
“The vaccines do not enter the nucleus of the cell; they do not change human DNA, so they can not cause any genetic changes, ”said Banulis.
According to the ACOG guidance, the three vaccinations currently available have not been tested in pregnant women, and that there are limited safety data available for use during pregnancy. It recommends that women talk to their doctors. This is what Jessica Rudzinski (33) of Falls Church has done repeatedly.
She said it led her on a journey of “unknown, to cautious, to really positive” regarding her support for the vaccination.
Rudzinski is seven months pregnant. She received the first of two COVID-19 vaccinations a few weeks ago.
“I asked my OB very difficult, specific, difficult questions, because I really wanted to make sure I made the right decision and not just follow what I ‘heard’ from people, or what I might have seen in a news headline. . , “she said.
‘I just want to encourage people to eliminate the noise. Focus on what you really need now to make your decision. Have the conversation with your doctor and make your decision based on the information. ”
Vaccination protected
Other vaccines given to pregnant women are known to protect babies. The CDC recommends that women in their third trimester be vaccinated against whooping cough (also known as whooping cough) to protect the baby immediately at birth. It also works with flu.
“Babies born to mothers who receive the flu vaccine have a much lower chance of getting the flu within the first six months of their lives,” Banulis noted.
It is not known if the COVID-19 vaccines work this way. But two South Florida pediatricians have given preliminary reports, which have not yet been reviewed by peer review, that a health worker who received a dose of Moderna vaccine in January gave birth to a healthy girl at 36 weeks pregnant with SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies. detectable in her umbilical cord blood during childbirth.
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