Coronavirus Vaccines in Pregnancy
The Coronavirus Vaccines are Safe and Effective in Pregnancy
First, I want to say that the coronavirus vaccines are safe and effective in pregnancy. There’s a great research article from the New England Journal of Medicine followed over 35,000 pregnant women and revealed the following, “Preliminary findings did not show obvious safety signals among pregnant persons who received mRNA Covid-19 vaccines.”
In this video, I talk with a mom who was in the process of deciding whether or not to get the coronavirus vaccine, but ultimately decided to get vaccinated. We talk about the pros and cons of the vaccine, the difference between the Johnson and Johnson Vaccine and the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the risk of getting a fever during pregnancy after getting the coronavirus vaccine, and many other topics.
The Vaccine Confers Immunity to Your Growing Baby
If you’re a pregnant mother and you receive the coronavirus vaccine, your body will produce antibodies and those antibodies will go from your body, to your placenta, to the baby’s body and protect the baby from Coronavirus. You will also share antibodies with your baby after birth via breast milk.
From the Harvard Gazette:
In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard have found the new mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to be highly effective in producing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in pregnant and lactating women. The study also demonstrated the vaccines confer protective immunity to newborns through breast milk and the placenta.
Coronavirus Vaccine and Fever in Pregnancy
Getting the coronavirus vaccine during pregnancy may cause a fever, however, this is not very likely and the fever after vaccination is of short duration and unlikely to cause any damage to the growing baby or fetus. From Harvard Health:
One possible side effect of the COVID-19 vaccines is fever a day or two after vaccination. This occurred in about
1% to 3% of people after the first dose of mRNA vaccine
15% to 17% after the second dose of mRNA vaccine
9% after the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.
These fevers are generally low and can be managed with acetaminophen, which is safe to take during pregnancy. Rarely, high, prolonged fevers in pregnancy may lead to birth defects.
Thanks for reading and have a great day,
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC