Pregnancy is a precious period in woman’s life, It is a season which so delicate and has to be handled with care. A pregnant woman shares most of her life together with the unborn baby. There are specific vaccines and medicines which are prescribed to pregnant women. Messing with one vaccine or medicine may bring with it a lot of damage that can lead to immeasurable lose.
There are vaccines like Rubella (Germany measles) which are given during pregnancy that protect against infections to the unborn baby and others need doctor’s prescription in order to have them administered.
Polio and yellow fever are vaccines which need special considerations before administering, rubella is considered a complete contradiction. Influenza vaccine can be administered but has to be avoided during the first semester but it is considered safe.
Are Vaccines Safe for Pregnancy?
Vaccines in pregnancy depend on your type of consideration. The vaccines one gets during pregnancy plays an important role in safeguarding the health and safety of the child and the mother. All vaccines are mainly tested by FDA supervision for safety purposes. The vaccines are checked for potency, purity and safety. FDA and CDC bodies are ever monitoring the safety of the vaccines as long as they are in use.
During pregnancy vaccines which contain inactivated or killed viruses can be administered while vaccines which contain viruses that are live are not recommended during pregnancy.
List of Vaccines Contraindicated in Pregnancy
Vaccines Contraindicated in pregnancy don’t suggest increased risks of malfunctions to the unborn child but ideally, they should be given preconception ally or postpartum. These include:
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Single Antigen
Reasons Why These Vaccines are Contraindicated
Administering of vaccines during pregnancy may pose to a number of concerns since some could bring a risk of transmitting the virus to the fetus that is developing. Live virus are then contraindicated during pregnancy. There are potential effects to the fetus to a woman who has been vaccinated with this vaccines during pregnancy or if a woman becomes pregnant four weeks after the vaccination.
Varicella vaccines contain a varicella zoster virus which is live attenuated, vaccination of varicella vaccine during pregnancy is completely contraindicated because it has effects on the fetus which are unknown. A woman who gets vaccinated this vaccine should avoid being pregnant for one month.
Vaccines for Pregnant Women
A guideline has been laid by CDC for vaccines needed during, before and after pregnancy.
Vaccines before Pregnancy
Vaccines which are given before pregnancy include Measles, Mumps, and Rubella, they are mostly given a month before pregnancy.
Measles – Vaccination against measles is important since it may help in protection against premature delivery. Its symptoms are fever, cough, running nose and red rash.
Mumps – This is a contagious disease that causes swelling in the salivary glands. Contracting it during pregnancy may bring complications leading to miscarriage.
Rubella -It has Flu like symptoms that are followed by a rash. It can be harmful during pregnancy since it may cause a child to be born with birth defects like intellectual abilities and hearing problems and this happens mostly during the first trimester.
Vaccines During Pregnancy
During pregnancy a mother’s immune is naturally weaker than before. This means a mother and the unborn child are susceptible to illnesses and infections. In order to protect yourself and the unborn baby from serious diseases before even getting pregnant, it is important you have all vaccines up to date. Many unborn babies contract diseases even when they are in their mother’s womb.
Whooping cough – This is a diseases which can be too serious to anyone. So unto the unborn baby it may be a life threatening. In the United States, it has been recorded that 1 to 20 children die yearly due to Whooping cough sickness. The seriousness of this disease is that when a child has it, the child doesn’t cough but the symptoms that may show are the stop of breathing and body turning blue. It may be hard for one to know the child is sick. Treatment should be done in the hospital despite how younger the child may be. Vaccination of a pregnant woman may prevent this disease.
Flu – Flu shot is the best protection against Flu. During Flu seasons as a pregnant mother it is recommended you have the Flu shot. Because this will protect you and the baby from complications that are flu-related several months after the baby is born. For the developing baby in the womb, the Flu can bring serious to the child and also bring problems like premature labor and delivery. Flu can be gotten from a change in immune, functions of heart and lung during pregnancy.
Hepatitis B – Before getting the Hepatitis B vaccine it is important for the pregnant woman to get guidelines from the doctor after being tested. A mother who has Hepatitis B during pregnancy is likely to give birth to a child already suffering this disease.
There are other vaccines that may be needed for a pregnant woman to have during pregnancy. It is always important to be in conduct with your physician. So as to know what vaccine best suits you and at what time. A pregnant mother who is travelling also requires vaccines which will protect you and the baby in case of change of environment.
Vaccines After Pregnancy
After delivery, there are vaccines which are best as prescribed by your doctor for protecting you and the child. If a mother is breastfeeding it is important to get postpartum vaccines since this will help in passing antibiotics to the child. If you will travel also after delivery consulting your doctor unto which vaccines are needed may help you.
Is it Safe to Get Hepatitis A Vaccine during Pregnancy?
Hepatitis A vaccine is much recommended for a pregnant mother. Especially if one is travelling into a country that has Hepatitis A. Before getting this vaccine it is recommended for the doctor to initiate a test that will determine if in your early ages you had the vaccine. A vaccine done once of this diseases produce antibodies that protects the body against infections even unto the future. According to research done vaccinating against Hepatitis A does not cause major risks unto the developing child.
Conclusion
A pregnant woman shares much of her with the baby. Vaccination is important to a pregnant woman since it helps in protection against diseases to the mother and the unborn child. It is important before the pregnancy, during and after the pregnancy for a pregnant woman to know which vaccine is recommended at what time.
There are vaccines like Varicella vaccine which is also not given in pregnancy. Contraindicated vaccines which may pose an harm to the child should not be administered during pregnancy but if need be they should be done under doctors care and with the pregnant mother having taught of the possible effects.
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