According to a research, COVID-19 immunization during pregnancy is not linked to issues like preterm birth or smaller-than-normal-weight kids.
Pregnant women who catch COVID-19 have a higher risk of illness severity and mortality, according to experts at Yale University in the United States.
They claim that one obstacle to vaccine uptake is the fear of vaccines disrupting pregnancy.
The findings were based on more than 40,000 pregnant women and were released in a paper by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday.
When comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated pregnant individuals, it reveals that COVID-19 immunization during pregnancy is not linked to preterm delivery or small-for-gestational-age (SGA).
The researchers discovered that the trimester in which the immunization was obtained, as well as the amount of COVID-19 vaccine doses received, were not linked to an elevated risk of preterm delivery or SGA.
“Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is important for preventing severe illness in pregnant people,” said Heather Lipkind, an associate professor at Yale School of Medicine and the study’s primary author.
Preterm birth (when a baby is born before 37 weeks) and SG (when a baby is born smaller than usual for the gestational age) have both been linked to an increased risk of infant mortality and impairment.
The researchers analyzed data from eight health-care organizations to look at the risk of preterm birth or SGA in pregnant women aged 16 to 49 who had been vaccinated or had not been immunized.
Researchers found that 10,064 people, or approximately 22% of those in the study, got at least one COVID-19 vaccination dosage during pregnancy.
Vaccination was given to 98.3% of pregnant women during the second or third trimester, with the rest receiving it during the first trimester.
Pfizer or Moderna created an mRNA vaccine, which was given to almost 96% of people who were immunized.
According to the researchers, the new data add to the evidence that COVID-19 immunization is safe during pregnancy.
The most prevalent concerns concerning COVID-19 vaccine safety in pregnant people and possible harm to the foetus, according to research, are a lack of knowledge about the vaccination’s safety in pregnant people and potential harm to the foetus.