Even though the COVID jabs have been proven to be safe for women who are expecting, there is a considerable amount of vaccine-hesitancy in the UK. Only 15% of pregnant women have been administered with their doses and the government is now trying to urge the others to follow the same route.
Unvaccinated pregnant women
What’s even more surprising is that while misinformation has widely contributed to the low rates, vaccine clinics have also been refusing to inoculate pregnant women. The MBRRACE-UK study on maternal health found that 13 pregnant women died in between July and September 2020—85% of those women were unvaccinated.
According to The Guardian, that number tops those from earlier waves in which the COVID vaccines were still unavailable to the public. Professor Marian Knight, who leads the MBRRACE-UK study, said:
Women are being turned away from clinics and now there are some trusts offering it as part of the maternity service, but it is not universal so there are still barriers.
It is important we start to see data on outcomes in vaccinated women so we can show evidence vaccines are safe, rather than say there’s no evidence they cause harm.
Risks of skipping vaccination
As stated by the NHS, the chances of pregnant women having a fatal or severe response upon infection are very low. However, as a precautionary measure, they have been included in the clinically vulnerable group. Furthermore, COVID has been known to increase the risk of premature labour, and previous studies have found that unvaccinated pregnant women required a more intensive treatment than their vaccinated counterparts. The NHS also added:
While the chances of having a stillbirth are low, there is some emerging evidence that the risk may be higher if you have COVID-19 at the time of birth.
For these reasons, health professionals have been urgently trying to eradicate misinformation and encourage women into getting the vaccine so that they can save their own lives, along with that of their babies. An NHS spokesperson said:
Pregnant women should not be turned away from NHS vaccination centres and women should continue to come forward for the lifesaving Covid vaccine.