Calls for more pregnant women in Harrogate district to come forward for their covid jabs
It's as there are more expectant mums across the country who aren't jabbed being admitted to hospital after contracting covid
Pregnant women across Harrogate and the Yorkshire Dales are being encouraged to get their covid jabs.
It's as there are more expectant mums across the country who aren't jabbed being admitted to hospital after contracting covid.
The government is warning that recent data shows almost all pregnant women admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms were unvaccinated – as a new campaign encouraging expectant mums to get their jab is launched.
Expectant mums are being told to not believe rumours about the covid vaccine online and to reach out to their midwife or check the NHS website if they have any worries or concerns.
Dr Kat Johnson, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Harrogate District Hospital, said:
"We know that for women who catch COVID in pregnancy, they are more likely to become unwell and to be hospitalized than a woman of equivalent age who isn't pregnant. We also know that if a pregnant woman becomes seriously unwell with COVID, their babies are more likely to be born premature and there's an increased risk of still birth.
"When the vaccinations were first brought in there was some uncertainty about safety because the information and the data just wasn't there. So I think the initial messages that went out to women were a bit mixed. We're in a different place now because we've now vaccinated lots and lots of women and we can see that we definitely have the data to say it's safe. But at the beginning the data wasn't there.
"At the beginning of the pandemic when we went into the first lockdown, we saw very few pregnant women with COVID. In 2021, we've seen many more with COVID and we have had a number of women who've been admitted with COVID in pregnancy.
"When you're vaccinated, your body makes antibodies. Antibodies are able to cross the placenta to the baby. So if we vaccinate you against COVID, we're also protecting your baby after they're born for the first few months of life as well. We're giving you protection and we're giving babies protection as well from having a nasty infection."
Pregnant women who have not yet had their first, second, third or booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine are being urged to get their jab as soon as possible, as the government launches a new advertising campaign for the new year.
The new campaign joins forces with the experts at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) to highlight the serious risks of catching COVID-19 and the benefits the vaccines bring to protecting both mothers and their babies.
The new campaign urges pregnant women ‘don’t wait to take the vaccine’ and highlights the risks of COVID-19 to mother and baby, and the benefits of vaccination.
The latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows COVID-19 vaccinations provide strong protection for pregnant women against the virus. It also shows the vaccines are safe for pregnant women, with similar birth outcomes for those who had the vaccine and those who had not.