Of all groups at risk from Covid-19, including the elderly and immunocompromised, pregnant women appear to be the least aware of the risks.
COVID can kill pregnant Woman and can result In miscarriages, premature births and stillbirths, even when women have asymptomatic or mild illness.Infections can also affect babies brain development.
Dozens of studies show that COVID vaccine teeth safety For pregnant women.Mother’s vaccination passes protective antibody to her fetus.
But only 70% of women have it. Completed the primary vaccination series For Covid before or during pregnancy, that means about 30% of pregnant women don’t have this basic protection.Since early September, only 15% have opted for booster shots.
Even flu vaccines have not proven popular with pregnant women this year. received a flu vaccination At the end of September 2020, it was nearly 60%, but at the end of October 2020, it was
The United States is currently suffering from a mix of respiratory syncytial virus, flu and coronavirus, all of which can cause serious illness in pregnant women.
Denise Jamieson, Ph.D., an obstetrician at Emory University in Atlanta and a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Covid Expert Group, said:
flat Early PandemicCovid it was dangerous Pregnant.data from Study abroad in June 2020 It showed that about one in three pregnant women infected with Covid end up in the hospital, compared to about 6% of non-pregnant women.
Infected pregnant women were 50% more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit and 70% more likely to need a ventilator.
“If you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, it is very clear that getting vaccinated is very important for you and your baby,” said an assistant professor at Harvard University. Yes, Maven Clinic is a digital healthcare provider for women and families.
Pregnant women, their families and even doctors may be unaware of the importance of immunizations due to “slow and confusing” communication from public health agencies, Dr. Shah said. rice field.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not act wholeheartedly. support vaccination against pregnant women until September 2021, about three months before the Omicron variant swept the country. months later American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine highly recommended A shot for pregnant women.
By then, mistrust and misinformation had already been sown, and only about a third of pregnant women had been vaccinated. “Honestly, that was a big part of the failure,” Dr. Shah said.
Scientists believed that pregnant women were inherently immune-compromised. It was thought that the body tolerated the fetus by suppressing its own immune response, reacting to the fetus in the same way as an outside intruder. “We now know that’s not true. It’s an oversimplification,” Dr. Jamison said.
Pregnancy comes with some immune changes, but it doesn’t compromise your ability to fight off infections like it does with organ transplants and certain medical conditions.
Still, pregnant women are vulnerable for other reasons. An enlarging uterus puts pressure on the lungs and interferes with their ability to take in air, for example. Pregnancy can also cause conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which themselves put you at severe Covid risk.
Studies have shown that the placentas of pregnant women infected with coronavirus resemble those of women with pre-eclampsia, a form of dangerous high blood pressure during pregnancy.
The placenta is a vascular sponge that allows the exchange of oxygen and nutrients between mother and fetus.Plays a role in fetal lungs, liver and kidneys, but Covid destruction Dr. Anne V. Hardman-Royal, a pathologist at the Tulsa Medical Institute who studies placental tissue, said:
“The placenta is essentially the lungs of the fetus and is damaged in the same way lungs are damaged by COVID-19,” she said. Most babies turned out to be fine as long as they were at least 30 weeks pregnant, she added.
So why are so many pregnant women avoiding vaccination? Many ignore the very real dangers of Covid while focusing on risk claims for which there is little or no evidence. I’m guessing
This applies not only to expectant mothers, but also to friends, family members and even health care providers.
October 2021 Maven Clinic 500 women surveyed in the United States. Nearly 70% said at least one person suggested avoiding the vaccine during pregnancy.In about a third of these cases, the source was a health care provider.
Dr. Anne Riley, a bioethicist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said doctors were already wary of taking even the smallest risk to pregnant women, and that the ambiguity of the evidence on Covid vaccinations raised their fears. said it may have encouraged
Dr. Lyerly pointed to one scientific paper In the journal JAMA entitled “Covid-19 vaccination during pregnancy and its association with adverse perinatal outcomes.”
The researchers concluded that there was no significant association. But leaving that information out of the title certainly didn’t reassure doctors, she said.
“A neutral message like the JAMA article is not neutral in the context of fear,” said Dr. Lyerly.
“Unfortunately, the safer position that so many ordinary people, so many doctors, and even so many public health officials tend to take when it comes to pregnancy, is ultimately less safe.” “In fact, it puts pregnant people at risk.”
She also said public health messages did not emphasize enough the risks of Covid to pregnant women and the benefits of vaccination of the unborn child.
Many women are happy to get the Tdap vaccine (a vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough) in the third trimester because they know it’s necessary to protect their baby.
But it doesn’t send the message that flu and Covid vaccines are necessary during pregnancy, Dr. Jamieson said. said it plans to.
Dr. Jamison said that by first asking about their thoughts on vaccines and then revisiting the topic at subsequent appointments, they were successful in persuading some women to get vaccinated.
“The key is not to push too hard on the first visit,” she said.
