When you’re pregnant you do your very best to keep your unborn baby and yourself safe. From paying closer attention to your diet, fitness, and overall wellbeing, taking care of your health is even more important when you’re carrying a little one.
Pregnant women are already staying cautious due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but they also need to be aware of flu season and the ways they can protect themselves and their baby from influenza-related complications.
Along with the dozens of ways mothers-to-be are taking precautions, getting a flu vaccination should be added to the checklist.
Here are three things you should know about if you are pregnant during flu season
1. The flu can be dangerous, but flu vaccination can help protect you and your baby.
Influenza (flu) can be a very dangerous and life-threatening disease for both pregnant women and their babies. The flu can be especially dangerous if you are pregnant, because changes in your immune system, heart, and lungs during pregnancy can increase your chances of getting very sick from flu and having to go to the hospital. Pregnant women who get the flu also have a higher chance of losing the baby (miscarriage), having a baby who is born too early or too small, and having a baby with serious birth defects. For these reasons, the flu vaccine is especially important for pregnant women.
Did you know that getting vaccinated against the flu when pregnant can do more than protect you? In fact, antibodies (or you could say “immunity”) from the flu vaccine are passed from you to your baby and can even protect them after birth. “There is a two-for-one benefit of getting the flu vaccine when pregnant: it protects both the mom and the baby,” said Melissa Jensen, Co-Chair of the WV Immunization Network and Assistant Professor at the University of Charleston Physician Assistant Program.
She added that “This is important because babies younger than six months old are too young to get a flu vaccine, but they are some of the most vulnerable when it comes to the flu.”
If you breastfeed your infant, antibodies also can be passed through breast milk. Even if you delivered your baby before getting your flu shot, you should still get the flu vaccine so that you can pass the protective antibodies on to your baby.
2. Flu vaccination can help prevent spread to others.
The flu is a respiratory illness that can spread easily from person to person. You, or others who care for your baby, who are infected with the flu can spread it to your baby, even before having any symptoms of the flu. To protect your baby, it is important that everyone who cares for your baby gets a flu vaccine, including other household members, relatives, and babysitters.
The flu vaccine is not 100% effective at preventing disease, however, it can limit the spread of the flu and lessen the severity of the illness. This can help decrease the chances of the person developing further health complications as a result of the flu.
3. Vaccination is safe in any trimester.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that pregnant women get a flu vaccine during any trimester of their pregnancy and to postpartum and breastfeeding moms. Flu vaccines have been given safely to millions of pregnant women and have a good safety record.
Jensen, a mother herself, adds “I was very glad to have gotten the flu shot to keep me healthy during my pregnancies and protect my little ones when they were newborns.”
There are some common side effects of the vaccine, but these are mild and typically include soreness, tenderness, redness and/or swelling where the shot was given. It can also cause headache, muscle aches, fever, nausea or tiredness.
Being a mother or a mom-to-be can be stressful at times but being prepared and taking the necessary steps to protect you and your baby can help reduce any worry. Getting the flu vaccination is just one more item to check off the list to make sure you’re prepared for your baby’s arrival.
Talk to your healthcare provider about getting the flu vaccine.