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Swine Flu Jab?
Hi ladies, hope you are all having a good weekend so far. Just a quick query....I have been booked in for my swine fle vacc on Feb 19th. I will be in the region of 8 - 9 weeks pregnant. Now I know the official guidance is that the jab is safe for pregnant women, but theres still a niggle that it could be harmful, especially as I am so early on. What are your thoughts on the jab? Do you think I should wait til after 12 weeks, or even forgo it completely?
Thanks
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Thanks
xx
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Replies
It really is such a personal choice, a) whether you have it or not and b) when to have it.
I have had it and am glad that I have, but I did wait until after I was 12 weeks. I wanted to wait until the baby had finished it's major developing and also for the safer stage.
I chose to have the jab after long discussions with two doctors at my surgery, one was a man and his wife had the jab as she was pregnant. She'd done a lot of research into it and the ingedients (for want of a better word!). The swine flu jab is very very similar to the seasonal flu jab which pregnant women have been having for years with no significant side effects, there are (as far as my research told me) just a couple of additional items added to the swine flu jab which are not known to be harmful.
The official line though is that they can't guarantee it's safe as they have not tested it thoroughly enough but so far they have not had any problems.
What they are 100% sure of though is that swine flu, if caught when you are pregnant carries a much greater risk of hospitalising you. Most women will be ok but it is more dangerous when you are pregnant and you are much more likely to develop respiratory problems.
This was enough for me to go for it, thankfully I have had no problems - other than a sore arm for a day or two.
It's a tough choice though and I respect anyone who decides to go either way! What I would say is please research as much as you can for yourself and try not to take any notice of scaremongering stories as there are plenty out there!
Good luck with whatever you decide!
Lucy xx
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy
xx
Does this not tell you a lot?
It has been established by an independent review board that flu vaccinations don't actually make the blindest bit of difference in adults as to whether they catch flu or not, which is one of the many reasons I've opted not to have the jab. Many doctors and midwives are telling women to wait until after 12 weeks to have the jab, if they have it at all.
If you wait till after 12 weeks, and find that jabs are no longer being offered because once again the Government had chucked it's hands in the air and squealed like an overreactionary girl in the face of little evidence of a third wave of the pandemic, then surely you have the reassurance of knowing you're unlikely to catch it anyway? Or is that just me being practical?
I had it at 14 weeks and have been fine. I also did a lot of research and came to the same conclusion as Broodypants.
I believe the jab also immunises your baby for the first few months after birth.
It all comes down to you personally and what your circumstances are. I work in a large open plan office for a University, where we obviously have students from all over the world, and there are about 200 staff on my floor, so I felt there is quite a risk of someone catching it and passing it onto me.
Hope this helps.
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My husband then caught swine flu (confirmed) when I was about 7 weeks gone! and I was very pleased I'd had the jab, he was so ill and I never caught a sniffle - I had a horrid high risk first trimester with pain and bleeding and I really didn't need that on top of it all! xxx
[Modified by: tennison16 on February 07, 2010 01:46 PM]
some people will be strongly for and some strongly against... at the end of the day you have to make your own decision. noone really knows any better than anyone else i'm afraid!
also my sis works at the local hospital and she did a bit of asking around and the pregnant nurses were advised not to have it by OH.
also there was a pharmasist at my nct class who hadnt had it and said it goes againt all they are taught while training.
i am also a teacher and while lots of children had it last year, the staff that got it were the LSAs workinjg one-on-one. they coluld trace it through their contact and the kids friends, so think it takes more than just being in the same room. i had the dry hand wash stuff in my class room that i was a bit obsessed with ~(as were some of my classes who then started bringing their own in) and tissues so kids would catch it, kill it, bin in lol.