Flu Jab?
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Learnermum
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I've had it every year for many, many years and had no second thoughts about having it this year too... I work in the NHS so they push for all staff to have it anyway, but my other way of thinking about it was, that this winter I REALLY don't want to end up getting the flu. Real flu is horrendous and the though of dealing with that, whilst pregnant and not being able to take anything other than paracetamol...
Weebles
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The flu shot is safe and recommended. What Fruitmash posted is entirely true, I would worry more about the flu itself. The flu is most dangerous to the young, the old, and the immunosuppressed and while pregnant we are exactly that, immunosuppressed. I requested the preservative free version but that is by no means necessary.
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As pp have said it's safe and recommended. I got it for several reasons: I'm pregnant and flu can be very dangerous in pregnancy, I'm a staff nurse who works with medically vulnerable adults and my 3 year old suffers from asthma. I also had my son have the nasal spray for those reasons.
I'd be more worried about the flu than the actual jag tbh.
I'd be more worried about the flu than the actual jag tbh.
Thanks for all the replies ladies, interesting topic. I probably need to do more research of my own. It just seems so wrong to put something like that in my body while I have my little one at such a crucial stage of development. My mum didn't know she was pregnant with my brother and she had a tetanus jab and sadly he was born with serious birth defects that still effect him as an adult so I'm ultra conscious of the effects these things can have on developing babies. X
Honestly, there is no evidence that non live vaccines cause any harm to adults, children, babies or those in the womb. Both the flu jab and the tetanus jab are not live vaccines and therefore perfectly safe in pregnancy. And certainly getting either of those illness while pregnant could put your babies life in serious danger. A lot of the fear around vaccines comes from the MMR scare, the study of which has been entirely dismissed. The study was found to be entirely dishonest and fraudulent and the doctor was struck of the medical council! My only advice would be don't just believe everything you read in the media etc. Have a look at the proper scientific evidence.
I've volunteered in countries where I have seen the horrific affects that routinely vaccinated for illness have on pregnant women and their babies. They would kill to have a basic vaccine against mumps, flu, diphtheria, polio. It was certainly enough for me to accept every vaccine I'm ever offered!
I've volunteered in countries where I have seen the horrific affects that routinely vaccinated for illness have on pregnant women and their babies. They would kill to have a basic vaccine against mumps, flu, diphtheria, polio. It was certainly enough for me to accept every vaccine I'm ever offered!
thexfadingpat
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My midwife advises against it. So I will not be getting it.
(I've also never had it once in my life even with my last pregnancy and am perfectly fine)
(I've also never had it once in my life even with my last pregnancy and am perfectly fine)
Weebles
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I think you should call your Dr, OB, midwife, whoever you are trusting to deliver your child safetly, and ask for their recommendation.
*edit* just reread that they advise it which is what I would expect. I honestly can't imagine them recommending against it.
*edit* just reread that they advise it which is what I would expect. I honestly can't imagine them recommending against it.
thexfadingpat
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I don't know what NHS is. I'm in Canada.
thexfadingpat
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I don't mean this to come across as rude, I'm genuinely curious. But can you show me any studies that actually prove that? I haven't found any.
arturia
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Getting the flu shot There's a bunch of similar studies if you do a search, but it's hard to find papers here listing the drawbacks of not getting it. Presumably because there's an ethics issue with just letting moms risk their newborns. And possibly because research proving the safety of vaccines tend to dominate the search results.
Weebles
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I don't think you're coming across as rude at all. I'm not sure that there are "studies" on the effects of the flu during pregnancy as that would be highly unethical but there are known complications. Meanwhile, the flu vaccine is given safely to millions of pregnant women every year and has been done so for.. A really really long time. Decades. And the safety of the vaccine has been studied extensively.
Your immune system is lower than it is normally during pregnancy and that is what makes the flu so dangerous particularly for pregnant women. Your body cannot fight it off as well and so the effects are more severe.
Like I said earlier I requested the preservative free vaccine but if it hadn't been available I would've gotten one anyway. The flu can be deadly and it's just not a risk I would want to take. You may come across some anti-vax thinking out there and it's hard not to listen because you just want to do everything right but the risks associated with the flu are scary, real, and preventable.
Here are a few links you might find helpful.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/pregnant.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/freeresources/pregnant/flushot_pregnant_factsheet.pdf
https://www.marchofdimes.org/complications/influenza-and-pregnancy.aspx
https://www.idsociety.org/Seasonal_Flu_Vaccine_Stillbirth/
xturnitoutx
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I would never get a flu shot during pregnancy. I am 24 weeks pregnant and won't get it this pregnancy. I did not get it when I was pregnant with my daughter a few years ago. Do I want to get the flu when I'm pregnant (or ever)? No. Do I feel more comfortable with the risk of flu than potential risks linked to the flu vaccine? Yes.
I'm not sure how shots during pregnancy get passed off by top health agencies and organizations as safe. Or why so many people blindly believe the message. Flu shots have never been tested for safety during pregnancy (and the safety testing on non-pregnant individuals is questionable at best). People (and studies) often cite seemingly healthy babies at birth as proof of safety. I'm not sure how a seemingly healthy newborn proves much of anything. The effects of many, perhaps most, damaging environmental inputs are not evident until months or years after exposure. And it isn't like our kids are healthy and we have no reason to worry or question what they're being exposed to. The amount and severity of health problems plaguing children today, at least in the United States, is astounding.
A couple years ago, one of the top immunization scientists/researchers at the CDC, who is a named author on all or almost all of the papers the CDC touts regarding vaccine safety, said he would never let his pregnant wife get a flu shot (he had not been informed that he was being recorded when he made the statement). I think that is pretty telling.
So no, no flu shots over here.
My advice to you is to do meaningful research on the issue. Research both sides. Why are some people suspect of the vaccine? Look for published research and intelligent commentary. Decide what you feel comfortable with. And double check everything. Use common sense. Trust your intuition.
I vaccinated the heck out of myself before I started to do research. I traveled all over the world and received the vast majority of available vaccines. But there's a reason people question vaccines. And the more research I do - and I have done hundreds and hundreds of hours of research since becoming pregnant with my daughter a few years ago - the more I question vaccines.
A couple questions/comments for a previous poster: (1) Flu shots have been given to pregnant women for decades? Can you provide a citation to support that? (2) By 'preservative free', do you mean free of thimerosal? I believe most flu shots still contain thimerosal, however the amounts are generally smaller (unless you live in a poor country. Then you still get thimerosal. Because, really, who cares if we inject poor African kids full of mercury?). (3) Scientific studies can't provide proof that shots don't cause negative things x, y, and/or z. They can merely say, at best, that they don't cause them with statistical significance. There's a difference.
I'm not sure how shots during pregnancy get passed off by top health agencies and organizations as safe. Or why so many people blindly believe the message. Flu shots have never been tested for safety during pregnancy (and the safety testing on non-pregnant individuals is questionable at best). People (and studies) often cite seemingly healthy babies at birth as proof of safety. I'm not sure how a seemingly healthy newborn proves much of anything. The effects of many, perhaps most, damaging environmental inputs are not evident until months or years after exposure. And it isn't like our kids are healthy and we have no reason to worry or question what they're being exposed to. The amount and severity of health problems plaguing children today, at least in the United States, is astounding.
A couple years ago, one of the top immunization scientists/researchers at the CDC, who is a named author on all or almost all of the papers the CDC touts regarding vaccine safety, said he would never let his pregnant wife get a flu shot (he had not been informed that he was being recorded when he made the statement). I think that is pretty telling.
So no, no flu shots over here.
My advice to you is to do meaningful research on the issue. Research both sides. Why are some people suspect of the vaccine? Look for published research and intelligent commentary. Decide what you feel comfortable with. And double check everything. Use common sense. Trust your intuition.
I vaccinated the heck out of myself before I started to do research. I traveled all over the world and received the vast majority of available vaccines. But there's a reason people question vaccines. And the more research I do - and I have done hundreds and hundreds of hours of research since becoming pregnant with my daughter a few years ago - the more I question vaccines.
A couple questions/comments for a previous poster: (1) Flu shots have been given to pregnant women for decades? Can you provide a citation to support that? (2) By 'preservative free', do you mean free of thimerosal? I believe most flu shots still contain thimerosal, however the amounts are generally smaller (unless you live in a poor country. Then you still get thimerosal. Because, really, who cares if we inject poor African kids full of mercury?). (3) Scientific studies can't provide proof that shots don't cause negative things x, y, and/or z. They can merely say, at best, that they don't cause them with statistical significance. There's a difference.
arturia
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You're right, ethics, but I would bet they've analyzed some of the meta-data from hospital transcripts. Hope that's what they're basing some of these complications readouts on.
meldmac
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On the mercury front which seems to be one every anti-vaxxer states as a reason not to vaccinate. You get more exposure to murcury in food then you do in a vaccine...just fyi.
