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Pregnant Moms Advised To Get COVID-19 Vaccination

Carly White (far right), 34, of High Point, received her COVID-19 vaccines in March while pregnant. Her daughter, Raleigh, was born on June 3, 2021, at The Birth Center at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Photograph courtesy of Carly White.

Health groups are issuing new recommendations urging pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, expectant mothers are more likely to become severely ill with COVID-19 than non-pregnant women. They're also more likely to go into labor prematurely and experience other adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Wake Forest Baptist Health's Andrea Fernandez says the low vaccination rate among new moms — nationally just over 20% — is concerning and adds that it's being driven largely by misinformation over blood clots, health of the baby, and infertility.

"They are safe for women that are trying to conceive," says Fernandez. "None of the COVID vaccines that are available will decrease the success of infertility treatments. And then those that are pregnant, we have not shown that the vaccine hurts babies. It does not cause miscarriage. And the risk of blood clots from COVID-19 vaccination is extremely small, like in a rate of one in a million."

Fernandez says several new studies show that moms who receive their vaccine during pregnancy pass on COVID-19 antibodies to their baby, much in the same way as vaccines like those taken for whooping cough.

The latest recommendations come from The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. 

 

 

Before his arrival in the Triad, David had already established himself as a fixture in the Austin, Texas arts scene as a radio host for Classical 89.5 KMFA. During his tenure there, he produced and hosted hundreds of programs including Mind Your Music, The Basics and T.G.I.F. Thank Goodness, It's Familiar, which each won international awards in the Fine Arts Radio Competition. As a radio journalist with 88.5 WFDD, his features have been recognized by the Associated Press, Public Radio News Directors Inc., Catholic Academy of Communication Professionals, and Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas. David has written and produced national stories for NPR, KUSC and CPRN in Los Angeles and conducted interviews for Minnesota Public Radio's Weekend America.

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