So in the last few weeks there have been a few promising articles discussing vaccine safety in pregnant and breastfeeding women. It also seems that more data suggest transfer of antibodies to the unborn fetus and also to breastfeeding infants.
Here is a nice summary of the Pfizer trial by NPR. Basically 131 patients, 30 were breast feeding and they found antibodies in the umbilical cord, the newborns and breast milk. We still don't know how long those antibodies last in the newborn but if it is similar to the flu vaccine there is data suggesting protection in the first year of life if women get the flu shot during pregnancy. Although case rates of COVID are low in infants, it is probably a nice thing to be passively immunized.
The CDC v-safe program and (VAERS) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System has over 30,000 pregnant or breast feeding women who self reported being vaccinated with Pfzir and Moderna vaccines have been followed and asked about pregnancy and non-pregnancy complications. There was no concerning findings, the most common pregnancy related concern was miscarriage in the first trimester which we know is extremely common and happens to 30-50% of all pregnancies. Compared to general population risks without the vaccine, numbers are comparable. I have been recommending waiting until 12 weeks to get the vaccine in an abundance of caution, unless people are in high risk occupations in which case I recommend getting it ASAP.
For those of you pregnant or breast feeding patients who have gotten a Covid vaccine - please register on v-safe. It is very easy, I signed up when I got my vaccine in December.
If you had an adverse reactions or pregnancy related symptoms please register your symptoms on the VAERS system.
Starting April 19, 2021 we will be allowing partners to the following prenatal appointments:
Initial prenatal visit ( usually around 7-8 weeks) with ultrasound, 12 week with ultrasound, ~20 week anatomy scan, 32 week scan and visit, 36 week prenatal visit. Hooray! I really hope we can get back to normal, although the CDC director's warning that she feels "impending doom" worries me a little. I think we should relax but not forget to social distance and wear masks. Stay safe and stay sane.
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