It’s outrageous so few pregnant women in the UK are vaccinated against Covid | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

IIt’s been nearly a year since the first mRNA vaccines were approved for use against Covid-19, and nearly seven months since they were approved for pregnant women. The government’s initial advice was that they should wait to get vaccinated, but since more data has become available, medical experts are encouraging women to get vaccinated. But there has been no major government awareness campaign, although pregnant women have been identified as a vulnerable group. I knew the proportion of fully immunized pregnant women in the UK would be low, but I didn’t expect it to be as low as 15% (in the US it’s more than double, at 33.8%).

That such a small proportion of pregnant women are fully vaccinated in the UK, seven months after vaccines were approved for them, is nothing short of a scandal. And more women and their babies are at risk of dying because of it. Recent figures for England show that one in six seriously ill patients is an unvaccinated pregnant woman with Covid. Of the 20 speakers women in need of the highest level of life-saving care, 19 were unvaccinated and one had received a dose.

These statistics are frightening, but they do not seem sufficient on their own to convince pregnant women to get vaccinated. To do this, it is important to understand why we see such high levels of hesitation.

Women are used to being told to avoid certain foods and medications when they are pregnant. In the absence of data that can be collected ethically, patients are getting used to a “better not, just in case” philosophy. Differing opinions abound and vary from country to country. Can you have a glass of wine? Eating feta? To take pills ? Use sunscreen? This way, pregnant women are prepared to always take what they believe to be a cautious approach.

In February, at the very beginning of the vaccine rollout, a pregnant friend of mine, a doctor who worked in intensive care, received her first dose of an mRNA vaccine to protect her and her baby against Covid-19. At the time, this went against government advice, as there was not much data available. However, she did her own review of the literature and correctly concluded that there would be no conceivable reason for the vaccine ingredients to cross the placenta or harm her baby, and sting her.

Most pregnant women don’t have the science that my friend has. But at various times this year I have reflected on how easy it would have been to provide them with a fact sheet or leaflet explaining the science and how it works, pointing out that, despite the initial lack of data, there there was no scientific reason to suggest that the vaccine would harm their babies and expose the risks for pregnant women not to be vaccinated.

Instead, pregnant women were left to do their own research. Government agencies have created a vacuum that has been filled with disinformation. Little information was provided on the risks for pregnant women, short of saying they are at increased risk of serious illness, and little commentary on the risk that even a mild case of Covid could pose to a baby. When you are pregnant, your immune system is weakened. Your uterus expands, putting pressure on your lungs. Having Covid around the time of birth makes a woman twice as likely to have a premature birth or stillbirth, and more likely to need an emergency cesarean section. We have knows it since may. My doctor friend concluded that the risks of having Covid and low oxygen levels during pregnancy were far greater than any unrealizable theoretical risk from vaccines.

There have been mixed messages, even from medical professionals. Another pregnant friend of mine, who also works in the NHS, delayed the vaccine earlier this year but, deciding the risks were too great for her and her baby, continued to receive both doses during the second trimester.

“NHS staff didn’t help,” she says. “I had to take my husband with me for moral support because they kept telling me I had to weigh the risks and benefits and there was no evidence that it wouldn’t harm my life. my pregnancy. It was terrifying!”

Several of her friends went through the same experience and also moved on, and all of them have since had babies. But they shouldn’t have needed to struggle to access essential medical care, and they should have received information and encouragement about the vaccine – just as pregnant women do for flu and whooping cough vaccinations. . Instead, pregnant women say they don’t get any prompts or messages, and some say they had to look for the sheets and discuss it themselves with doctors and midwives.

More than 100,000 pregnant women in England and Scotland have received a Covid-19 vaccine with no recorded adverse effects. More than 160,000 pregnant women in the United States have received a Covid-19 vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna) without any safety concerns being raised. The first data from three American security surveillance systems found no safety concerns for pregnant women who received a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine late in pregnancy or for their babies. No increased risk of miscarriage has been found in people who received a vaccine just before and during early pregnancy (before 20 weeks of pregnancy). No safety issues were found in animal studies. And the antibodies produced may well help protect your baby (research is ongoing on this).

The low vaccination coverage among pregnant women drives me to despair. It’s an outrage, and more pressure on maternity services won’t help. Some women don’t see a single healthcare professional for the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy – surely a huge missed opportunity for a conversation about vaccination. The tone towards the pregnant population was one of blame, but we shouldn’t blame the women who were left without a clear message. Why has this group been so neglected while other vulnerable groups have not?

Now that England has ditched masks and eased other restrictions, some of these women will have essentially become locked down for the duration of their pregnancies. If they mix, in waiting rooms, in NCT classes, and in other in-person groups, they put vaccinated pregnant women and their babies at risk. But it’s not their fault: they failed, and more women and babies are at risk of dying.