Evidence of multiplying with COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy: The virus is dangerous.No shot

Dr. Kurt Wharton, an Oakland County gynecologist, currently has four pregnant patients in an intensive care unit fighting COVID-19.

No one was vaccinated. Currently, the four are “fighting for their lives,” said Wharton, who works at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.

Dr. David Colombo, an obstetrician at Grand Rapids, tells a similar story.

He leads the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Office of Spectrum Health, which specializes in more complex pregnancies. This means that women in West Michigan who become infected with COVID during pregnancy tend to eventually reach their office. “And I’ve seen people get very sick. There were some problems.”

That includes death, he said.

“Fortunately, the death toll is very low,” Colombo said. “But there are some patients in the area who died of COVID during pregnancy.”

Wharton and Colombo are one of the obstetricians who strongly recommend vaccination of pregnant patients, saying that there is increasing research on the risk of COVID-19 during pregnancy and the relative safety of the coronavirus vaccine. I will.

Last week, researchers at the University of Washington Research Investigate the health status of 2,100 women infected with COVID-19 during pregnancy.

The study found that women were 20 times more likely to die than uninfected pregnant women, and women with COVID were more likely to experience preterm birth, preeclampsia, ICU and / or hospitalization for intubation. I did. Each woman affected by COVID-19 was compared to two uninfected pregnant women who gave birth in the same hospital during the same period.

Indeed, most of the COVID-19 patients who showed negative results had comorbidities such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes and heart disease, said an obstetrician who is also the Chief Medical Officer of Manson Healthcare Charles Bois Hospital. Said Dr. Jim Ziekle.

Nonetheless, “the point of take-out is that we are learning more about the negative effects of COVID on pregnancy,” he said.

Ziecle too Another study Released last week, it was announced by the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which investigated the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant women.

The study was one of the first waves of Americans vaccinated with 35,000 pregnant women. Women have downloaded an app that records post-vaccination symptoms and health problems. In this study, injection site pain was reported more frequently among pregnant people than non-pregnant women, but headache, myalgia, chills, and fever were less frequently reported. all right.

More importantly, among vaccinated women who have given birth to date, there have been no neonatal deaths and the number of preterm births and other birth-related complications is statistically higher than that of unvaccinated women. The report states that they were in agreement.

Jeakle includes only women vaccinated in the third semester as the study is ongoing and the first report is the only participant who gave birth when the first data were collected. He said it was important to note that.

Still, “they didn’t see the red flag at all. That’s a good thing,” Zykle said.

The benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of pregnant women, especially those with comorbidities at high risk of COVID complications, “I think it’s still pretty safe,” Jeacle said. I will.

The study is also “good news for low-risk people, the majority of people looking for information,” about vaccination during pregnancy, Zykle said.

“It was difficult for people to decide what to do,” he said. “I think this data gives people a better sense of where to go.”

Dr. La Keeya Tucker, Lansing’s gynecologist and next-generation health care director at Sparrow Hospital, called the study “very exciting news.”

“Patients are so afraid of vaccination that it is promising to bring these studies to the market,” she said.

Tucker and other doctors also pointed to other recent studies showing the benefits of vaccination for pregnant and lactating women. Through the placenta during pregnancy and lactation.

It is important to note that most pregnant women infected with COVID-19 during pregnancy are “very successful,” said Dr. Stacy Sensor, a gaylord obstetrician and gynecologist. However, pregnancy is not a good time to deal with other health problems. Other problems can make labor and recovery difficult, especially at the end of pregnancy.

“These patients tend to get worse, so I’m always really worried about getting it in the last four weeks of pregnancy,” said Sensor.

Of particular concern, she said, one of the complications of COVID could be blood clots, and pregnant women are already at high risk.

“As doctors, we want a healthy mother and a healthy baby. That’s our purpose in life,” said Sensor. That’s why she recommends COVID vaccination to pregnant patients.

“It’s an opportunity for our patients to reduce the risk of adverse events, and I think it’s really, really important to take advantage of that opportunity,” she said.

Wharton said the official position of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology is that any woman who is pregnant, breastfeeding, or thinking of becoming pregnant should be vaccinated.

“What is the risk of not being vaccinated?” Wharton said. “We know that women who are pregnant and infected with COVID are more likely to be admitted to the hospital. She may need more oxygen than her non-pregnant friends. She is also more likely to enter the ICU and has been found to be at a much higher risk of premature birth than a woman who does not get sick. “

Colombo said he was urging both pregnant and prospective patients to be vaccinated as soon as possible, agreeing.

“There is no benefit to waiting,” he said. “Women trying to get pregnant need to be vaccinated. Newly pregnant people need to be vaccinated. There is no benefit to waiting until the second semester or until you deliver. Get as soon as possible please.”

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