Pregnant women given vaccine choice
PREGNANT women will now be offered the vaccine, following research from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Until this point, the vaccine was only offered to pregnant women when their risk of exposure to the virus was high. This included being a health and social care worker, or underlying health conditions.
In the US, 90,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines created by PfizerBioNTech and Moderna.
These have not raised any safety concerns.
Professor Lucy Chappell, consultant obstetrician and Covid19 vaccine lead for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said the news should provide some reassurance to pregnant women.
She added: “We are continuing to work with healthcare professionals so they are able to counsel pregnant women on the risks and benefits of having the Covid-19 vaccine based on their individual circumstances.
“We are also advocating for more data collection of pregnant women receiving the vaccine in the UK, and welcome the work that is going on to ensure that there is recording of pregnancy status in the national vaccination programme to enable linkage to outcomes.”
Dr Mary Ross-Davie, director for professional midwifery and Covid19 vaccine lead at the Royal College of Midwives, said it is a sensible step.
“It empowers pregnant women to make their own decisions about whether or not to receive the vaccine,” she said. “Ultimately it will be a woman’s choice and midwives and obstetricians will be there to support them to make an informed decision that is right for them.
“It is now vital that the national vaccination programme, GPs and maternity services are supported to develop systems and procedures that support women who wish to have the vaccine to have it as easily as possible.
“We need to ensure that those providing counselling and information to women about the vaccine in pregnancy have up to date accurate information and have enough time to talk through questions and concerns with women.”
Dr Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “Vaccination offers pregnant women the best protection from Covid-19, which can be serious in some women.”
He said one in five pregnant women who become unwell with Covid-19 and are admitted to hospital will have a premature birth.
“We believe it should be a woman’s choice whether to have the vaccine or not after considering the benefits and risks and would encourage pregnant women to discuss with a trusted source like their GP, obstetrician or midwife, or a healthcare professional in a vaccination centre,” he added.
“This move will empower pregnant women to make the decision that is right for them, at the same time the population in their age group receive [the vaccine].”