HOW DOES COVID-19 INFECTION AND VACCINATION AFFECT PREGNANCY?
Research finds that contracting the disease increases the risk of premature birth and stillbirth when the mother is unvaccinated
Efforts to immunize populations against Covid-19 have faced persistent online rumors that vaccination affects fertility or pregnancy.
Despite a lack of evidence that jabs reduce the chances of becoming pregnant, increase the risk of miscarriage or cause related forms of harm, misinformation has continued to spread on the web.
WHY HAVE THERE BEEN SUGGESTIONS THAT COVID-19 VACCINATION COULD AFFECT PREGNANCY?
One factor, said Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading in the UK, is that there was little data available early on about pregnancy and the vaccines that were available.
“In the early stages, the trials were not targeted at pregnant women,” he said.
“So the data simply wasn’t good enough to say clearly the vaccine was safe. That’s true of all vaccines when they’re released, so there’s a general feeling new vaccines should only be used cautiously with pregnant women.”
The vaccines have since been used on “huge numbers” of pregnant women, so he said that doctors could now say that the Covid-19 vaccines were “completely safe for pregnant women to take”.
HOW CAN COVID-19 AFFECT PREGNANCY?
While it has been established that coronavirus vaccines do not reduce the chance of woman falling pregnant or increase the risk of miscarriage, a Covid-19 infection during pregnancy can prove harmful.
A study published in Nature Medicine in January based on results in Scotland reported that among women who had given birth within 28 days of a Covid-19 diagnosis, the baby mortality rate was increased four-fold.
“All baby deaths after Covid-19 in pregnancy occurred in women who were unvaccinated,” said Dr Sarah Stock, a reader in maternal and fetal health at the University of Edinburgh and the study’s first author.
Unvaccinated women were also more likely to be admitted to hospital and to be treated in an intensive care unit.
Further research has found that Covid-19 increases the risk of premature birth and of stillbirth.
“There is very convincing evidence from around the globe that vaccination before or during pregnancy is the safest and most effective way to protect pregnant women and their babies against Covid-19 infection and the serious complications that Covid-19 can cause,” said Dr Stock.
“If you are at any stage in pregnancy, or hoping to become pregnant, I would encourage you to get vaccinated to protect you and your baby.”
The researchers found that in the placentas of women with Covid-19, there were lower levels of ACE-2, a cell receptor that allows the coronavirus to enter cells. This could prevent SARS-CoV-2 being passed to the fetus.