How does everyone feel about the H1N1 shot?
Baby #1 Due May 31, 2010!!! asked:
I just found out I’m pregnant yesterday morning, 
I REALLY want to avoid the H1N1 shot. Is anyone planning on getting the shot or not? I heard it’s common in pregnant woman to get this illness. I’m real healthy and don’t have any illnesses. My husband absolutely does NOT want me to get it because that’s a big risk. What does everyone think about the H1N1?
Swine Flu Communications Handbook
absolutely not getting it. ive already been in direct contact with the swine flu and my doctor just put me on tamiflu. he never even mentioned geting vaccinated
I don’t think H1N1 is more common in pregnant women. It is, however, more serious. A pregnant women who gets it is more likely to die than a non-pregnant woman in similar health.
If I were pregnant, I would get the vaccine. (Though my GYN’s office doesn’t have any in right now.) My daughter, who is high risk due to asthma, will be getting it as soon as it’s available. I will probably NOT get it (healthy, non-pregnant adult), but might reconsider once it’s available in sufficient enough doses that low-risk folks are eligible.
I have mixed feelings on it. You hear of so many pregnant women that have not gotten the shot and died and the babies being taken early. So that kind of scares me! I go in to my OB tomorrow for my U/S and bloodwork, and I will definitely be talking this over with him and getting his opinion.
I already got the shot. Pregnant women have a compromised immune system, much like folks with organ transplants, folks missing a spleen, or AIDs. It’s not that you’re more likely to get it, it’s that you’re far more likely to be gravely ill and possibly hospitalized and loose your pregnancy as well.
Get the shot and get the seasonal flu vaccine too, flu is really bad for a fetus even if you don’t die from it.
I got the shot when I was 38 weeks and I feel it was pretty safe at this point. If I had been in my first trimester I would not have got it. You want to avoid putting anything into your body that you’re not sure of for at least the first 3 months and no one is very sure of the h1n1 shot.
I think its a good shot to get. i don’t think you should get it while your pregnant though, nobody is exactly sure if it could have an impact on your baby when its born or later in life.
Def. not getting it. I got the regular flu shot when i was 9 weeks and Im not getting the H1N1 shot. there is not enough evidence eitehr way on how it effects pregnant women and their developing babies. My doc told me to get it but I am not.
**Due 5-2-2010**
Not getting it til after i have my baby.
It’s nothing to worry about- really. I was against getting the shot too, until I (think) I got sick with H1N1. If it wasn’t H1N1, it sure was the worst flu I’ve ever had in my life. (I can’t know for sure ’cause nobody in my area is even testing for it anymore. Rediculous!) Anyways, at my OB visit yesterday I opted to get the shot (yes I did my research on the vaccine) b/c I wasn’t 100%sure that that was it…and I want to make sure that I have the antibodies to protect myself and my little one from it. Better safe than sorry.
I asked them too, before I was injected how many pregnant women had already had it there, and they said the majority of women have taken it since the vaccine arrived here. And I feel just fine today. I’m glad I got it, ’cause I wouldn’t want to be the next pregnant woman to get sick and die.
one more thing you may want to consider is that experts say that this strain MAY mutate, and may also last into next spring and summer. My baby is due in the spring, and I know that under 6 months they cannot be given this vaccine…which would leave him/her without the antibodies and the mature immune system to fight it. By ME getting the shot, the baby will be protected by MY antibodies (up to 6 months of age). I feel that that is something I owe to my child.
I got mine. I have a 10 yr old who is in a school full of it and does many after school activities. I got my seasonal flu shot at 12 wks and the H1 at 14.
If you really want to avoid it then don’t get it. I think its a decision only you can make. You need to do what you feel is best.
I wanted to add I did do research on tamiflu along with the vaccine. Because for me with my 10 yr old I wasn’t thinking of how to keep it out my home, but more on what to do the day the school called and she was sick.
What I found out was tamiflu is a class c drug which means it hasn’t been studied on pregnant women, but animal studies did show higher risk of birth defects when used in high doses during pregnancy. They give it because they say the benefits to the mother clearly outweights any potential risk to the feteus.
I’m pressured by my fam to get the shot, but I’m not. How I see it, as long as you stick to the typical instructions for avoiding the flu, you’ll be fine. (E.G. covering your mouth when you cough/sneeze, washing your hands frequently, avoid the sick, etc.).
I’m hearing so many bad things about the H1N1 shot, that I wouldn’t risk getting it while I was prego. Especially since you don’t have too much longer to go.
If anyone criticizes your choice, tell them that you appreciate their concern, but you’re not doing anything that you believe will harm your child.
Although there is still no hard data on the specific risks, reports suggest that evidence is increasing that pregnant women are at higher risk of complications from swine flu (H1N1) than other groups
Disease control experts point out that pregnant women have a different immune system state and thus face higher risk of complications from any infection. Another pointed out that pregnant women infected with H1N1 appear to have a higher than normal pregnancy loss rate, especially those who develop pneumonia after the infection, although there are no hard numbers.
Pregnant women who contract swine flu are four times more likely to develop severe illness that requires hospitalization than other people infected with the virus, a U. S. study showed on Wednesday.
They are also more likely to die of swine flu or even seasonal flu, and yet only 15 per cent of pregnant women in the United States follow the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and get an annual flu shot.
“There are mechanical and hormonal changes in pregnancy, there are changes in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, there are immunologic changes,” Jamieson explained. “Lung capacity decreases because as the uterus grows it moves the diaphragm up and there’s basically less room for the lungs. All these changes make pregnant women more susceptible to and more severely affected by certain viruses, including influenza.”
My husband, children and I just had h1n1 last week and it was horrible. I was totally against the shot before I seen what it can do. I would definitely get the shot. Also, you would only need a single dose of 15-microgram vaccine. 92 percent of pregnant women showed a robust immune response after getting the 15-microgram vaccine.
i got it last week.. absolutely no side effects happened to me.