Government urges all pregnant women to get vaccinated in new campaign

Pregnant women are at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill if they catch Covid-19

Vaccines against Covid are safe for pregnant women, data has shown (REUTERS)

Pregnant women are being urged to get vaccinated against Covid-19 in a new public health campaign.

The UK government, together with experts from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), are launching a new campaign encouraging pregnant women to have their booster jab, or first and second dose for those who have not yet.

Launched on Monday, it will urge them: “Don’t wait to take the vaccine.”

Adverts will highlight the benefits of vaccination against Covid and the risks that catching Covid can have to both the baby and the mother.

The most recent data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that Covid-19 vaccinations provide strong protection for pregnant women against coronavirus.

The data shows that vaccines are safe for pregnant women, with birth outcomes similar for those who had the vaccine and for those who had not.

DHSC chief scientific adviser and honorary consultant obstetrician, Professor Lucy Chappell, said that getting a Covid-19 vaccine was “one of the most important things a pregnant woman can do this year”.

She added: “We have extensive evidence now to show that the vaccines are safe and that the risks posed by Covid-19 are far greater.”

Meanwhile, data from the UK Obstetric Surveillance System shows that 96.3 per cent of pregnant women admitted to hospital with symptoms of Covid between May and October 2021 had not had a vaccine.

Of these, one third required respiratory support and around one in five women who were hospitalised with the virus needed to be delivered preterm.

Having a vaccine can lower the risk of hospitalisation as a result of Covid, and the Covid vaccines are safe for pregnant women, and have no impact on fertility.

However, since April 2021, only around 84,000 pregnant women have received one dose.

Despite the fact that pregnant women of any age are considered a clinical risk group within the Covid-19 vaccination programme, in August 2021 only 22 per cent of women who gave birth had been vaccinated.

Dr Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, responded to the news of the campaign, saying: “We welcome this national campaign as an important way of amplifying the very clear message to pregnant women that vaccination provides the best protection for both them and their babies from Covid-19.”

He went on to add how “concerned” the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are about the lack of vaccination in pregnant women.

Dr Morris said: “We are very concerned that many pregnant women have not yet been vaccinated against Covid-19 and we hope this campaign will help reassure them that vaccination is safe and effective.

“Pregnant women are more vulnerable to becoming seriously ill from Covid-19 infection, and this can lead to an increased risk of giving birth prematurely, and stillbirth.”

Meanwhile Dr Jen Jardine, who is pregnant and from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “Both as a doctor and pregnant mother myself, we can now be very confident that the Covid-19 vaccinations provide the best possible protection for you and your unborn child against this virus.”

Dr Jardine has already had the booster jab and said: “I would strongly call on all pregnant women like me, if you haven’t had the vaccine yet, to either speak to your GP or midwife if you still have questions and then book right away today.”