More than 200,000 women in the UK and USA have had a COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy with no concerning safety signals.
There is excellent evidence of vaccine efficacy with 98% of women admitted to hospital and getting severe infection having not had the vaccine (what this appears to show is those women who are becoming significantly unwell and requiring ITU admission are most often unvaccinated).
There is no reported increase in congenital anomalies incidence because of COVID-19 infection.
Covid 19 vaccines do not contain ingredients that are known to be harmful to pregnant women or to the developing baby. Studies of the vaccines in animals to look at the effects on pregnancy have shown no evidence that the vaccine causes harm to the pregnancy or to fertility.
The Covid vaccinations in use are not ‘live’ vaccines and so cannot cause Covid infection to a mother or baby, and other non-live vaccines have previously shown to be safe in pregnancy (e.g. flu and whopping cough).
COVID-19 vaccines can be given at any time in pregnancy, and preference is to offer the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
Pregnant women receiving a COVID-19 vaccine show similar patterns of reporting for common minor adverse effects to non-pregnant people.
Women who are breastfeeding can receive a COVID-19 vaccine without having to stop breastfeeding.
There is no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines affect fertility.
Women planning a pregnancy or fertility treatment can receive a COVID-19 vaccine and do not need to delay conception.
You can find further up-to-date information by clicking on the following links:
An information sheet and decision aid from the Royal College of Obrtetricians & Gynaecologists