Flu who?

Posted on October 27, 2009 by Heather Laura Clarke

Tuesday, October 27, 2009
8 weeks, 2 days pregnant

The H1N1 vaccine is finally about to be available in most parts of Canada, and like most preggo peeps, I’m high on the list of people who should get it.

To get scientific for a sec, there are actually two types of vaccines, and preggos get the “unadjuvanted” one.

Pregnant women can literally die from H1N1 — yes, die — because when you’re pregnant, your immune system is already out of whack (i.e. low or something). Pregnant women can also get sicker for longer, and their lung capacity is decreased because of the uterus pushing up the diaphragm.

“Pregnancy causes changes to women’s respiratory and immune systems that may make it more difficult for them to rid themselves of influenza infection.

The World Health organization recently stated that pregnant women may be ‘at increased risk for severe disease, potentially resulting in spontaneous abortion and/or death, especially during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.'”

Yikes!

Experts are saying preggos should get two H1N1 shots, three weeks apart, in order to get “full immunity.” Some articles are saying you should also get one of the regular flu shots, and you can sometimes tack that on at the same time.

And it’s not just us — the people closest to us (i.e. the Darling Husbands of the world) should also be vaccinated. I have never even gotten a flu shot — and neither has he — so this is all very new and strange.

I know it’s important — and I’m going to do it, for the sake of Little Baby — but I can’t help but feel worried about it. I mean, I’m not touching The Drink That Shall Not Be Named, but I’m going to get injected with God knows what?

Other pregnant women are worried, too. In fact, one article says half of the pregnant women surveyed said they won’t touch the vaccine.

Experts can’t confirm that the vaccine is 100% safe, and some people are wondering if the benefits outweigh the risks. I would tell you the risks, at this point in the post, if I wasn’t too terrified to research them.

As worried as I am, reading this quote really confirmed that it’s what I should be doing:

“There have been deaths in perfectly healthy adults. It’s a very sad thing when a perfectly healthy pregnant woman dies of a vaccine-preventable disease … A little shot in the arm versus a visit to the ICU — that’s a no-brainer.”