Can i get the vaccine even if i’m trying to get pregnant? Can the vaccine harm the fetus? And, if administered during pregnancy, does it increase the risks for mother or baby? Because experts urge you to get vaccinated as soon as possible
Elena is almost 40 years old. She would like a child and have recourse to medically assisted reproduction. Can I get the vaccine or do I have to wait until the pregnancy ends? he asked the vaccinator of a vaccination center in Milan. The vaccine is the best defense to avoid complications from Covid for pregnant women and for those who seek it the answer. Giulia, of the same age, asked the same question to another vaccinator from the same hub. But the answer was diametrically opposite: Better to wait six months after the vaccine before looking for a child.
To get vaccinated or not? The doubts of those who want to get pregnant
The huge confusion, unfortunately even among doctors, on the delicate theme of pregnancy and anti-Covid vaccination. There are many reports that have arrived in the editorial office of women who want to become mothers but are not uncertain whether or not to get the vaccine. The real risk that women, especially those older in age, refuse the vaccine so as not to wait any longer to have a child in the pipeline. Or that, seized by doubts, they do not show up for the second dose.
Covid-19 in pregnancy: the risks
Pregnancy is an event that naturally lowers the immune system. Getting sick of Covid-19 in the nine months of waiting can be dangerous. By now the scientific literature on the subject is quite substantial. Two recent works published on Jama It is on New England Journal of Medicine concluded that pregnant women who become infected with SARS-CoV-2 have a more severe disease than women who are not pregnant. This is precisely because the immune system is generally weaker in pregnancy.
The recommended vaccine
Not only not contraindicated, but the highly recommended Covid vaccine clarifies to women who have started or are about to start a path of medically assisted procreation Antonino Guglielmino, gynecologist, president of Siru (Italian Society of Human Reproduction). And the same is true for couples looking for a child of course. Even the Ministry of Health in a circular dedicated to “anti-Covid vaccination exemption certifications” underlines that there are no contraindications to the vaccine in pregnant or breastfeeding women.
Safe and effective vaccines in pregnancy
What I can tell women looking for a child to get vaccinated as soon as possible says Guglielmino. We are closely following the evolution of the scientific literature and studies agree that currently available vaccines are safe and effective in pregnancy. There is only one window of time in which it would be best to avoid becoming pregnant: in the days between the first and second dose. As mentioned in pregnancy, the immune system works less – explains President Siru – and for this reason the response to the vaccine at this stage would be lower. It is ideal to wait between 2 and 3 weeks after the second dose of vaccine to look for a child because there is no risk that the drug will be less effective due to pregnancy since the antibodies will have fully formed beforehand.
There are no dangers to the fetus
The
vaccine can create problems for the fetus? Absolutely not. The vaccine does not interfere with the fetus in any way still reassures Guglielmino. The vaccine causes an immune response, but the fetus does not have an immune system, which begins to develop six months after birth.
No known adverse effects on fertility
Just in these days the Istituto Superiore di Sanit has updated the vademecum against fake news on vaccines, clarifying that protection against Sars-CoV-2 does not cause infertility and miscarriages. At the moment – writes the ISS – there is no scientific evidence of a negative effect of vaccines on male or female fertility. As for the administration of the vaccine during pregnancy, the first observations, especially from the US data where thousands of women are immunized during gestation, they found no increased risk of adverse effects for mothers and newborns.
August 9, 2021 (change August 9, 2021 | 16:58)
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