GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The biggest risk to your pregnancy is COVID. That's according to the Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Spectrum Health Dr. David Colombo. He supports a new CDC study that says COVID vaccines during pregnancy protect newborns and lead to fewer hospitalizations.
The study also found that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines provide the best protection reducing the risk of hospitalization by 60%.
Dr. Colombo says last month the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital was at capacity, "Our NICU's were completely full of preterm babies who were, you know, a lot of those mothers had COVID delivered early, our intensive care units were packed with almost a waiting list."
Many of those pre-term deliveries could have been prevented according to Dr. Colombo says if the mother had been vaccinated, "COVID In pregnancy is terrible. Pregnant women don't tolerate COVID well at all. Their immune system doesn't work like the non pregnant person's immune system. They don't fight the virus as well. They've got an entire pregnancy pushing up on the diaphragm. They don't tolerate pneumonia as well."
Dr. Colombo says pregnant women need to understand the risks of being unvaccinated, "I remember this poor woman who was so adamant she didn't want the shot. But she ended up getting intubated. And the last thing she did was grabbed my hand and said, please give me the vaccine now. And I had to tell her, it's too late I'm sorry."
The CDC study found that the COVID vaccine not only protects the mother but also infants for up to 6 months after their born. Dr. Colombo says it is safe for women to get vaccinated at any point during their pregnancy.
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