Getting recommended vaccines before or while you are pregnant is known to protect both you and your baby from potentially serious illnesses.
But recent shifts in vaccine guidelines are generating no shortage of confusion.
Couple that with long held misconceptions surrounding many vaccines and it makes for a difficult environment for individuals to navigate, said Kevin Ault, MD, board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and professor in the Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology at WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed).
“The misinformation out there has been going on for several decades. It's just now we have social media that amplifies it,” Dr. Ault said.
Amidst continued shifts – and confusion – surrounding vaccine guidelines, we recently caught up with Dr. Ault to discuss the advantages of vaccines, misconceptions surrounding vaccines during pregnancy, and why it’s important to get vaccinated.
What are the advantages of getting vaccinated while pregnant?
Dr. Ault: The advantage of getting your flu and COVID vaccines, for example, while you're pregnant is not only that you are protected against these harmful diseases that can affect your health and your pregnancy, but also your newborn will be protected in the first few months of life.
Flu and COVID-19 both increase your risk of preterm delivery and stillbirth, and vaccines help with that; it protects your newborn.
What are some misconceptions surrounding vaccines during pregnancy?
Dr. Ault: One of the things you're going to hear is that vaccines cause infertility in women. You’re also going to hear about miscarriages, birth defects, and stillbirth. Those are all probably the worst things that can happen to somebody while they're pregnant, and so people have a lot of fear about those things.
Saying that vaccines are connected to those things makes the situation worse as far as anxiety and fear during pregnancy. The data actually say the opposite, and it makes sense when you think it through. Influenza and COVID-19 during pregnancy can lead to stillbirth because those two diseases lead to severely ill mothers, which, of course, affects what's happening inside the uterus, and then when you follow that up, you find that the vaccines protect against those kinds of things.
What concerns do you have about shifting guidelines in vaccine recommendations?
Dr. Ault: One thing that really worries me is there's this infrastructure that many people don't know about called “Vaccines for Children.” And if you don't have insurance that covers your children getting the recommended vaccines, this program will cover that cost.
If we keep removing vaccines from recommendations, like vaccines that contain aluminum, for example, then about 50% of children who are covered by Vaccines for Children are going to have to really scramble to get vaccinated. It's going to shift to an environment where it depends on what kind of insurance you have and where you live, whereas for 30 years, we've had this program that's equalized access to healthcare, and we're going to take a huge step backwards.
What advice do you have for pregnant individuals that are unsure about whether they should get vaccinated?
Dr. Ault: Your family physician, your pediatrician, your obstetrician, your midwife are all getting quality information from their professional organizations, plus they have training to interpret those data. So, you should listen to trusted health professionals that you have a personal relationship with.
If you ask people why they get vaccinated, the most common reason they often give is “because my provider told me to get vaccinated.” That relationship between provider and patient is very worthwhile. That breaks down, though, if you have barriers to accessing care. Again, that's what I'm worried about is people that have real barriers to getting care.
For those individuals on the fence, why is it important to get vaccinated?
Dr. Ault: Vaccines protect your health when you're pregnant. You're more likely to have worse outcomes with COVID and flu when you are pregnant. Flu and COVID both increase your risk of preterm delivery and stillbirth, and vaccines help with that, and it protects your newborn. If you ask pregnant people what's most important on that list of things, they usually say protecting the newborn. We have, really, four different vaccines – Flu, COVID-19, RSV and Tdap – to protect newborns at this point.