Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : April 5, 2021 11:45 AM IST
Some studies have suggested that pregnancy can put women at higher risk for severe illness and death with COVID-19. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pregnant women who have COVID-19 appear more likely to develop respiratory complications requiring intensive care and be placed on a ventilator, compared to those who aren't pregnant. If you're pregnant and have underlying medical conditions, such as diabetes, then you have higher chances of developing severe illness due to the viral disease. For this reason, experts recommend pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19 after consultation with their health care provider, especially those who are at high risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 including health workers or those who have comorbidities. This may also immunise their babies, who receive the antibodies through placenta. In fact, Spanish media has reported the first baby born with COVID-19 antibodies in the country. The mother of the baby, born last week on the Spanish island of Ibiza, had received the COVID-19 vaccine in the third trimester of her pregnancy, the reports said.
Doctors analysed a sample from the baby's umbilical cord and found that he had developed antibodies against COVID-19. According to Manuel Grandal Martin, deputy director of the Madrid Hospital Directorate, the protection that the baby has is equal to that of someone who has been vaccinated. But how long the protection against the virus will last is not known yet, Grandal told Spanish media on Friday. This case indicates that vaccinating pregnant women may help immunise both the mothers and their babies.
While there is very little data on whether the COVID-19 vaccines are safe during pregnancy, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that the benefits of vaccination would outweigh the risks. In most initial clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccines, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding were not included. But a recent study published in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology has shown that the COVID-19 vaccines are not only safe and effective for pregnant and breastfeeding women, but vaccination may provide some protection for their babies as well.
The 131 participants included in the study had received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Among them, 84 were pregnant, 31 were lactating, and 16 were nonpregnant 18- to 45-year-old women. Their blood samples were analysed during the first and second dose of vaccination, and again after six weeks. The researchers found that women who had been sick with COVID-19 during pregnancy developed higher antibody levels in response to the vaccine. This suggests that even if pregnant women had COVID infection, getting the vaccine will lead to a more stronger antibody response, noted lead author Dr. Kathryn Gray, maternal fetal medicine specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Gray said that both pregnant and nonpregnant women had similar side effects from the vaccinations and were mild, like soreness at the injection site after the first dose, muscle aches, headache, fever and chills after the second dose. In addition, they found antibodies in umbilical cord blood and breast milk. This indicates that like flu vaccine, COVID-19 when given during pregnancy, may produce antibodies that cross the placenta and offer protection for the baby too. However, the researchers are not clear yet if it will protect the baby from getting sick or how long that protection would last.
With inputs from agencies
