This is the third in a series of three posts that dive deep into concerns about the vaccine from people who are expecting or planning to have a baby in the future. If you have additional questions or concerns, please talk to your healthcare provider. View the content from the first and second posts here and here.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM), the two leading organizations representing specialists in obstetric care, recommend that all pregnant individuals be vaccinated against COVID-19. The organizations’ recommendations in support of vaccination during pregnancy reflect evidence demonstrating the safe use of the COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy from tens of thousands of reporting individuals over the last several months, as well as the current low vaccination rates and concerning increase in cases.
CDC: COVID-19 Vaccines While Pregnant or Breastfeeding
If you are pregnant, you can receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy can protect you from severe illness from COVID-19.
- Clinical trials that study the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and how well they work in pregnant people are underway or planned. Vaccine manufacturers are also collecting and reviewing data from people in the completed clinical trials who received vaccine and became pregnant.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) have safety monitoring systems in place to gather information about COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and will closely monitor that information. Early data from these systems are preliminary, but reassuring. These data did not identify any safety concerns for pregnant people who were vaccinated or for their babies. Most of the pregnancies reported in these systems are ongoing, so more follow-up data are needed for people vaccinated just before or early in pregnancy. We will continue to follow people vaccinated during all trimesters of pregnancy to understand effects on pregnancy and babies.
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html
Points to Consider and Discuss with Your Doctor
If you are facing a decision about whether to receive a COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant, consider and discuss with your healthcare provider:
- How likely you are to being exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19
- Risks of COVID-19 to you and the potential risks to your fetus or infant
- What is known about COVID-19 vaccines:
- How well they work to develop protection in the body.
- Known side effects of vaccination.
- Limited, but growing, information on the safety of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.
- How vaccination might pass antibodies to the fetus. Recent reports have shown that people who have received COVID-19 mRNA vaccines during pregnancy (mostly during their third trimester) have passed antibodies to their fetuses, which could help protect them after birth.