vaccinations during pregnancy

Vaccinations During Pregnancy – Are They Really Safe?

With some of the misinformation and misunderstandings surrounding vaccinations during pregnancy, our consultants see and resolve a lot of confusion from expecting parents. Typically, the concerns are related to how safe vaccinations are and how they will affect the baby’s development.

Take, for instance, Shruti Saini, who began consulting at Sitaram Bhartia for her first pregnancy. Shruti was a fairly young first-time mom and at 26-years old, she was confused about how to tackle most aspects of her pregnancy, including vaccinations.

“My mom told me that she never got a single injection when she was pregnant. But in my first few consultations, my doctor told me about the vaccination I had to take” said Shruti. “At first, I didn’t know whom to believe, but I did get vaccinated finally.”

Shruti’s hesitance about getting vaccinated was quite natural and expected for our team. “There is naturally a fear about taking medications during pregnancy because of the potential effects on the baby” says Dr Priti Arora Dhamija, Senior Consultant Obstetrician-Gynecologist at Sitaram Bhartia. “But on the flip side, we also see a lot of couples asking for medications that are not always necessary.”

As a general rule, any medication or vaccination should only be taken when recommended by a doctor, and especially so during pregnancy. But some confusion still persists around which vaccines can be taken and which can’t.

“Generally, we don’t recommend any vaccines with live viruses or bacteria in them” said Dr. Priti. “So, vaccinations for diseases like HPV, measles, or chickenpox are out of the picture because the live strain might be harmful for babies.”

Our table below outlines the vaccines that are recommended and given if necessary.

This article has been written with editorial inputs from Dr. Priti Arora Dhamija, who has over 17 years of experience in the field of Obstetrics & Gynecology..

Medically Reviewed by Dr. Priti Arora Dhamija

MBBS, Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi (1999); M.D, Lady Hardinge Medical College (2004); DNB Obstetrics & Gynecology (2004); Diploma in Pelvic Endoscopy, Kiel, Germany (2014)

 

Seek expert advice from our expert gynaecologist. Please call on +91 9871001458 to schedule an appointment.

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