Is It Worth a Jab? Vaccines in Pregnancy

It is generally thought that pregnancy should be a time that our bodies should be somehow “pristine” without adding any medications or substances. It is true that pregnant women require to be judicious about substances and medications.  Avoidance of alcohol and nicotine and other recreational drugs is strongly recommended in pregnancy. Medications are a bit more nuanced as the risk to mom’s health of stopping the medication has to be taken into consideration.

Vaccines may have the benefit of protecting both mother and baby against infectious diseases. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC) have given good guidance on immunizations that are important to consider during pregnancy. These are some of their recommendations:

 

1. Tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (TdaP) is recommended in every pregnancy sometime between 21 and 32 weeks of the pregnancy even if mom is up to date prior to pregnancy. The rationale for this is that there has been increasing pertussis (whooping cough) in children under the age of two. Having the vaccine while in mom’s tummy can give babies a head start in having some defense against whooping cough.
2. Hepatitis A, B, meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines should be considered only for moms who are at risk. Talk to your primary care provider to see if there are risk factors that make you a candidate for these.
3. Flu vaccine is recommended for all pregnant women. The risk of having flu during pregnancy and complications to mom and baby are high. In years that we have had a shortage of flu vaccines, pregnant moms were considered a priority group to get first dibs at the short supply.
4. COVID is often much more complicated in pregnancy and the COVID-19 vaccine is thus recommended in pregnancy at any stage. There is growing evidence that being exposed to the vaccine in pregnancy may give babies some immunity as well.

 

So go ahead and roll up your sleeves and ask your provider about which vaccines are right for you!

 

Dr. Bhooma Bhayana is a family physician in London and the mother of two young men and proud grandmother of three! She continues to find wonder and enjoyment in family practice despite more than 30 years on the job!