With the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, among the vulnerable groups that we need to protect are pregnant women. Getting vaccinated appears to still be one of the best course of action, thanks to this new study among pregnant women.
A 2023 study found that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy might be linked to lower risk of preterm births.
Study: COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy linked to lower risk of preterm births
In the study by Florencia Torche from Stanford University and Jenna Nobles from University of Wisconsin-Madison published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on November 27, 2023, they concluded that amid the devastating COVID-19 impacts, its effect on infant health could be among its "most enduring legacies."
Their study, which used population-level data on siblings born between 2014 and 2023 in California facilities with universal testing, confirms that COVID-19 infection during pregnancy significantly increased the risk of preterm birth.
However, in 2022, they found that this effect disappeared; particularly in locations who are early adopters of the COVID-19 vaccination, the effect vanished almost a year earlier.
The study suggests, "The availability of vaccines and the decision to use them may have reduced a serious health burden for the next generation of US children."
Preterm birth is when a baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy, and is among the leading causes of infant death in the United States.
"The decline and then disappearance of an adverse impact of COVID-19 on preterm birth in 2022 occur in the context of growing infection-based immunity, the potentially reduced virulence of the Omicron variant, increased uptake of COVID-19 vaccination, and growing access to therapeutic management of COVID-19 infection," the study reads.
In an article by Parents, Nobles says, “Our findings suggest what will actually be harmful to newborns is not receiving a vaccine. This is useful information that could be shared by healthcare providers with pregnant patients and people intending pregnancy.”
Call to action
Experts have time and again confirmed that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and recommended for both pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Members of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynelogical Society (POGS) set the facts straight around this time last year to reassure the safety of these vaccines, saying there is no evidence of adverse maternal or fetal effects.
If any, the side effects are the same with the general population, such as injection-site pain, redness, fatigue, fever, and muscle pain. All these, doctors assured, do not in any way affect the unborn child.
"Ang buntis ay pwedeng mabakunahan ng COVID-19 vaccine. Mas masama o mas malaki 'yung risk kapag hindi sila nabakunahan. Very. very mild lang if ever 'yung mga side effects... Pero 'yung kapalit kapag hindi sila nabakunahan ay malubha.
"Magpabakuna po tayo at magpa-booster po 'yung mga buntis," said Dr. Maria Julieta Germar. Read more here.
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