Making a case for vaccinating pregnant women, a report by a group of doctors from a Central Government hospital in Delhi has pointed out that it can have dual benefits—both the mother and newborn get antibodies which have been demonstrated in cord blood and breast milk.
Currently, a pregnant woman is either not included for vaccination or the policies are not clear as the decision for inoculation is left on the woman herself, the report prepared by doctors from Safdarjung Hospital and Vardhman Medical College in Delhi said as it made a case for their vaccination on a priority basis in the routine protocol for antenatal care.
“For Covid not to further aggravate the already heavy burden of maternal and under-five mortality, there is a strong case for inclusion of pregnant women as a high priority group for vaccination, ‘’ said the group of medical experts led by Dr Yamini Sarwal.
Their observation is in line with the global studies which have made the case for vaccinating pregnant women against the influenza virus. “It is appears to have a significant positive effect on birth weight in babies,” said a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Hence, evidence is emerging of the safety and efficacy of Covid vaccination, which along with benefits of passing on the protection to the newborn, call for including pregnant women in the high priority group for vaccination, it said.
Observing that pregnant women are known to be at significantly higher risk for severe Coronavirus-related complications compared with non-pregnant women, it said, the issue of protecting such women is critical.
Vaccination has emerged as a reliable protective measure against severe COVID-19 infection, the report noted.
Arguing for prioritisation, the report said pregnant women experience more severe COVID-19 disease than non-pregnant women.
They are more likely to require hospitalization, admission to ICU, receive invasive ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation when compared with non-pregnant women, it said, adding, there is a 70 per cent increased risk of death among symptomatic pregnant women as compared to non-pregnant ones.
In fact, a study in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology has said that contracting COVID-19 while pregnant can have deadly consequences for the mother.
The study, which followed 240 pregnant women between March and June 2020, found that the Covid-19 mortality rate in the pregnant women was significantly higher when compared to the Covid-19 mortality rate in similarly aged individuals within Washington state.
The study also found that pregnant women with Covid-19 had 3.5 times higher Covid-19 associated hospitalization rate than the similarly aged general population in Washington state.