Which vaccines to get - and avoid - while pregnant
If you're pregnant, you have a lot to do to stay healthy for you and your unborn baby - take a daily prenatal vitamin, eat a healthy diet and attend routine checkups, to name a few. It's also critical to stay up to date on your vaccinations since being pregnant puts you at a higher risk of severe illness from some diseases.
Posted — UpdatedVaccines you need while pregnant
If you are expecting a baby or planning a pregnancy, talk to your doctor about getting the following vaccinations:
Getting the flu shot covers you and your unborn baby for the duration of that year’s flu season. In other words, if you were vaccinated in October and became pregnant in December, you do not need to get another shot, Dr. Quist-Nelson says. The antibodies will transfer to the fetus through the placenta, which is the organ that develops in your uterus to provide nutrients and oxygen to the baby.
The Tdap vaccine is administered between weeks 27 and 36 of pregnancy to protect the fetus, since newborns cannot be immunized, Dr. Quist-Nelson says.
The CDC recommends that children be vaccinated against these three conditions starting at 2 months old. The vaccines have been combined so children do not need to get so many individual shots.
“COVID-19 in pregnancy is very unsafe, and we know that pregnant patients do a lot worse than nonpregnant patients of the same age. It is really important to protect yourself and your unborn baby by receiving the vaccine. Hundreds of thousands of pregnant patients have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, and it has shown to protect them from ICU admissions and severe morbidity,” Dr. Quist-Nelson says. “Under the current guidelines, babies will not be able to be vaccinated until they are 5 years old, so mom getting vaccinated gives the unborn baby the protection needed after birth.”
As for the long-term effects of the vaccines, Dr. Quist-Nelson says there has never been a vaccine that has shown negative long-term effects. They simply provide a way for patient and baby to mount an immune response in the event that they are exposed to COVID-19, she says.
Vaccines pregnant patients should not receive
These vaccines are often administered to unvaccinated patients after delivery out of an abundance of caution, Dr. Quist-Nelson says. The reason for giving the vaccines after delivery to those who aren’t immune is to protect them from chickenpox or rubella in the next pregnancy. Both chickenpox or rubella infections can cause pregnancy complications or miscarriage. MMR and varicella vaccines are safe for breastfeeding women. Adults who aren’t pregnant and haven’t had chickenpox should also receive the varicella vaccine, according to the CDC.
The CDC says children can start to receive MMR and varicella vaccines when they are 12 to 15 months old. Both series include two doses.
How mom’s and baby’s immune systems work together
Unborn babies and newborns have immature immune systems, Dr. Quist-Nelson says. In the womb and for the first few months of life, they have more dependence on antibodies that their mothers deliver through the placenta and breast milk.
“The vaccines are amazing because they boost the mother’s antibodies, which will cross the placenta to reach the fetus. They have also shown to be present in breast milk. We have studies showing babies are born immune to both the flu and COVID-19 if mom received the vaccines while pregnant,” Dr. Quist-Nelson says. “This makes pregnancy an ideal time to give those recommended vaccines.”
Related Topics
• Credits
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.