Only 50% of local pregnant women have had Covid jab
It's despite stats that show unvaccinated pregnant women are at higher risk of severe illness if they test positive
Half of locally pregnant women still haven't had a covid vaccination.
Senior health officials at the Royal Berkshire hospital say they could be putting their babies health at risk by turning down a vaccination.
Earlier this week it was revealed almost a fifth of the most critically ill coronavirus patients in England in recent months were unvaccinated pregnant women, health officials said as they urged expectant mothers to get their jabs.
Dr Sarah Philip, Consultant Obstetrics and Gynaecology clinical lead at the Royal Berkshire Hospital said:
"Pregnant women with severe covid are more likely to have babies that are born prematurely and premature babies are vulnerable to complications and risk, and there's also an increased risk of stillbirth, and this is where the vaccine comes in because we know that women who are vaccinated receive significant protection against severe covid.
NHS England said that, between July 1 and September 30, 17% of Covid patients receiving treatment through a special lung-bypass machine were mothers-to-be who had not had their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
The organisation said data also showed that pregnant women accounted for 32% of all females aged between 16 and 49 in intensive care on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) – used when a patient’s lungs are so damaged by Covid that a ventilator cannot maintain oxygen levels.
Dr Philip says whilst she understands the hesitancy the vaccine is safe:
"It doesn't cross the placenta so there's no way it can effect the baby there's no real mechanism where it could cause any adverse effect or harm the baby, and it's not excreted in breast milk so it's safe for women who are breast feeding, so the advantages far, far, far, out weigh the small risk"
Public Health England data shows more than 81,000 pregnant women have received the first dose of a Covid vaccine, and around 65,000 have received their second dose, NHS England said.