help me be rational - pregnant and not vaccinated
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Anonymous
Read again. Covid caused the premature birth. |
Anonymous
| Hugs, OP. I debated this so much in my first trimester but went ahead with the shot, and all is well at 27 weeks now. I will say I felt a ton of relief after getting dose 2. Our lives no longer revolve around Covid anxiety and precautions. Others have made great points about the risks of the virus during pregnancy and the near impossibility of completely avoiding the risk of exposure. But another important thing to consider is mental health. Stress, depression and anxiety have real, measurable negative effects on the baby and on you. Getting the vaccine allows you to ease up in a lot of ways, which is good for you and the baby and your family. |
Anonymous
OP here I know I know …so the answer is 100% no to my questions based on the science? I’ll ask my Ob again but they go in these circles of ongoing full time studies on pregnant women still but look at everyone etc etc. I researched the mRNA and think the science is clear and fine but is it okay for pregnant women and unborn kids? Like baby won’t get some weird cancer down the line from it? I want to learn the science and guarantee me that so I can take it. I’m leaning towards obviously taking it it makes sense, variants are worse, we are shut in, covid has known risks …but I don’t want something to happen because I couldn’t suck it up staying inside for 5 more months make sense? Like I COULD continue yo be shut in? I can afford it we can do it physically. Am I being spoiled and selfish wanting to take my toddler to an aquarium inside? Or do my own grocery shopping? Or see my parents? When I could just wait 5 more months…? |
Anonymous
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You will never know for 100% sure that anything is 100% safe. The vaccine could make all of us grow an extra eyeball 20 years from now. But a LOT of pregnant women have gotten the vaccine and they have been fine. Remember how fast J&J got paused when a few women got blood clots? If something were happening to fetuses it would be major major news.
The risk of vaccine is not 0. But the risk of getting covid appears significantly higher than the risk of vaccine, and you are not going be able to avoid people forever (unless you have a home birth with a vaccinated midwife?). I hope you can talk to your health care providers about this and come to a good decision. |
Anonymous
OP here ironically it’s precisely because I trust science and doctors that no way in hell would I do home birth with midwife. I’ll ask the OB again they mention it in passing but we haven’t fully talked about it. |
Anonymous
| I was vaccinated at 20 weeks (Moderna) and I can’t tell you the relief I experienced following that. I got my second shot at 24 weeks, and experienced very minor symptoms for about twelve hours (no fever, body aches as if I was recovering from the flu). I took Tylenol and worked the day after the shot as usual. My OB refused to recommend one way or the other when I discussed the shot with her prior to vaccination, but was enthusiastic after the fact. When I delivered, the nurses cheered when I told them I had been vaccinated in my second trimester. Initial studies showed that babies of mothers who were exposed to COVID had higher levels of antibodies the earlier the mother contracted the virus. I think this is a good argument for not waiting much longer. You are going to experience significant anxiety about your unvaccinated newborn. Knowing that you protected them by being vaccinated while pregnant is a powerful thing. Breastfeeding helps reinforce this immunity. With the new variants circulating, this has been tremendously reassuring for me. My baby was born at term and perfectly healthy a month ago. We DO know that contracting COVID has poor outcomes for pregnant women and their fetuses. |
Anonymous
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There are no definite right or wrong decisions, OP. Personally I think the most rational approach is to consider the level or spread in your community, your lifestyle risk factors, and most importantly your doctor’s recommendation.
P I am 25 weeks and have chosen not to get vaccinated during my pregnancy (though I got my first shot right before I got pregnant) based on the advice of my doctors, fairly low-risk of exposure (I’m a SAHM, DH works from home, our kids only do outdoor activities with a small pod of friends (DH and all other parents are fully vaccinated and take Covid precautions seriously), and low levels of Covid in my community (~1 per 100,000). I’m personally not worried at this time about not being fully vaccinated and the plan is to get vaccinated shortly after I deliver. However, if Covid rates start significantly increasing I could see my decision changing. FWIW, not even the experts can tell you with scientific certainty whether there are any potential adverse effects of vaccination during pregnancy because there is very limited data and won’t be for a very long time. (Ex. the HPV vaccine has been around for 15 years and the CDC still doesn’t recommend it during pregnancy despite studies showing no problems). However as others have said what data is known so far looks reassuring. Finally, do not focus on anecdotal data (including my own, ha!). There are extreme stories on all sides of this issue and relying on social media posts, anonymous reports, etc. is not a rational approach but rather a recipe for anxiety. |
Anonymous
NP. I know, back last fall, there was discussion that covid infection damages the placenta (hence the stories of premature birth, similar to what a PP’s sister experienced). So…there’s that little bit of info for you. |
Anonymous
OP here - I know but I like dcum and think of it as my “tribe” lol I’m the only pregnant one in my group of friends and family and lonely up here in this rural area, I had so much great advice here with my first, it’s comforting to hear even the anecdotes. The vaccine was not available in my state before I got pregnant and honestly I was scared to also wait too long since I had waited a year from my original get pregnant by 34. I think the first dose is something like 80% efficacy so I wonder if you would feel different (aka worse and more freaked out) if you didn’t have that dose? Maybe I’d feel okay with just one? Thank you for sharing to you and everyone - it’s funny if it was my sister I’d urge her to get it because I’d want to be sure she and baby are safe and protected but in my own personal case I go down this drain of “what if’s”. |
Anonymous
Here is a bunch of information from ACOG: https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-advisory/articles/2020/12/covid-19-vaccination-considerations-for-obstetric-gynecologic-care which points toward the vaccine being safe and the risks of covid outweighing it. I wouldn't want to be going to a hospital in a few months unvaccinated. There could be other unvaccinated patients and family members around, and you would probably have to take more precautions (a mask during labor sounds miserable). And presumably you are going for regular doctors' appointments, so you are inside with potentially unvaxxed people right now. |
Anonymous
| I wouldn’t play with fire at this point, and delta concerns me for the unvaccinated. I know young people that died from covid before delta was a thing and the vaccine has given me a sense of relief I can’t describe. While I’m not currently pregnant, I wouldn’t hesitate to get the vaccine while pregnant and I know plenty of people who got the vaccine while pregnant and went on to deliver healthy babies without fear of getting covid or passing it to the baby. |
Anonymous
| I’m 36 weeks pregnant and got my first shot six weeks ago. I totally understand your concerns OP and to me I was sort of splitting the difference by waiting to get the shot later in pregnancy when baby was mostly cooked. To me this was the best solution balancing risk vs reward. That being said I’m still pretty careful about where I go (no indoor dining) but I do generally have peace of mind. |
Anonymous
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It's not a live vaccine. 0 chance of harming the baby.
I had a non-COVID respiratory flu while pregnant - fever 104, O2 stats dipping low. It was scary and that can damage a fetus. I would never risk not getting the vaccine. |
Anonymous
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1. Read up and understand the science of mRNA
2. Do you feel 100% safe from getting Covid, or your newborn getting Covid after birth? If not, I would try to assign a percentage to that and compare it to the percent “risk” (the unknown, anything could happen what-ifs) of the vaccine. There is data now on pregnant women and the vaccine. Signed, 24 weeks pregnant with IVF baby. Got vaccinated at 10 and 13 weeks. Had no side effects other than sore arm with either Pfizer shot. Baby is perfect (and I’ve had lots of ultrasounds due to advanced maternal age and IVF) |
Anonymous
Oh, yes, let's all listen to a random "doc on TV" rather than the actual experts. You know what they call the least competent person who just barely s raped through medical school, internship and residency and who one of their peers or superiors would EVER let them near themselves or their families? They call them "doctor." |