Pregnant women and their babies are at high risk for COVID-19

 Pregnant women and their babies are at high risk for COVID-19

By Brittany Sweeney

February 1, 2021

Millions of Pennsylvanians are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, including pregnant women who are in a high-risk category for the virus.

Dr. Elizabeth Flodin, an obstetrician and gynecologist with Lehigh Valley Health Network, works with pregnant women and is also expecting her second child.

Pregnant women who get COVID-19 are at a higher risk of serious illness, she says, and could cause preeclampsia, preterm delivery, blood clots, and heart attack. And their fetuses can be stillborn. 

“When the vaccine first came out, I spoke to some of our Maternal Fetal Medicine colleagues and the higher risk doctors, I got their opinion on the safety of it and usually as long as it is not a live attenuated vaccine, it’s generally is safe in pregnancy,” she says, “When the Centers for Disease Control labeled pregnant woman as a high-risk category, and then also knowing that the vaccine is generally safe. That’s why I decided to get it.”

The  American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine all recommend that pregnant and lactating women be offered the COVID-19 vaccine. They also suggest the vaccination for women trying to get pregnant or undergoing IVF. 

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