We are receiving a lot of questions about the corona vaccine, and understandably so. During the pregnancy you not only feel responsible for yourself, but also for your growing baby. This can lead to some people therefore wanting to get vaccinated (so that the baby is also protected against getting covid) and other people to have doubts because they are pregnant (because is there enough known about the effect of the vaccine?).
In this newsletter we would like to share some considerations that may help you to make a choice. For us it is important that you take the time to decide for yourself if you want to get vaccinated or not.
- The KNOV (the organization of midwives) and NVOG (organization of gynaecologists) have formed a statement in which pregnant women are advised to get vaccinated against corona.
- Pregnancy is not a reason to get vaccinated with priority or earlier than you otherwise would.
- If you normally get an invitation for a flu vaccine, you will also now receive an invitation to get a covid vaccine. You receive this invitation from your primary care doctor to get vaccinated via the GGD.
- We expect that starting in July all adult in the Netherlands will be able to get vaccinated via the GGD.
- Research suggests that pregnant women who are vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna do not have any more side effects from the vaccine than non-pregnant people.
- Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines and it seems these are safe to use.
- Long term effects for the baby have not yet been studied.
- Because the baby develops the most significantly in the 1st trimester (first 12 weeks), it seems logical to not get vaccinated during this period. The KNOV and NVOG do not disapprove of getting vaccinated in the 1st
- Pregnant women in their 3rd trimester (after 28 weeks) have a higher chance of getting severely ill from covid when compared to non-pregnant women (this is based on small research studies done so far: 1,6% versus 0,3%). Women with a higher BMI, a non-western background or an underlying chronic condition such as asthma or diabetes seem to have a higher risk.
We would like to help you with your decision whether to vaccinate or not if you feel you need support with this. We can discuss this during one of your prenatal appointments if you want.
