Asserting there is no evidence to date that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems, a leading maternal-fetal medicine specialist has said there is no cause for alarm while explaining no one needs to avoid pregnancy after being vaccinated.
Dr Geeta Swamy, the associate president for research and vice dean for scientific integrity at Duke University, while speaking during a webinar titled “Oh Baby! COVID-19 Vaccine Facts on Pregnancy and Fertility” said she has received several frantic calls from women who have received their vaccines and then found out they were pregnant.
Pointing out that pregnant patients with symptomatic COVID-19 are at an increased risk of more severe illness compared with non-pregnant peers, Dr Swamy said “it’s important to immunize pregnant women” as soon as they are eligible, adding comorbidities such as obesity and diabetes further increase these risks.
Dr Swamy, who was addressing questions about Covid-19 vaccines for pregnant and postpartum women, said there is no evidence that getting vaccinated negatively affects pregnancy, breastfeeding or fertility.
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Citing misinformation and the fact that pregnant women were not included in vaccine trials, she acknowledged the hesitation by some to get vaccinated.
“I think we are closer to saying pregnant women should get the vaccine versus they can get the COVID-19 vaccine,” the Science Advisory Board quoted Dr Swamy as saying during the webinar hosted by the American Dental Association on March 17.
Stating the pregnant patients need to know their bodies undergo immunological changes, thereby making them more susceptible to infection-related morbidity, Dr Swamy said: “When a woman gets pregnant, the immune system that we have recognizes things that are foreign to our body.”
“A fetus is foreign to our body because half of the DNA is not ours,” she added.
The maternal-fetal medicine specialist said immunization also decreases the inflammatory immune response to diminish fetal rejection, adding all vaccines have the potential to protect mothers against infection during pregnancy and for the rest of their lifetime.
Dr Swamy noted that being pregnant does not put women at higher risk of getting COVID-19 though these factors being important.
She, however, warned that getting Covid-19 could lead to worse outcomes for pregnant women.