By: Tatiana Vdb

What can get passed through from mother to baby during pregnancy ?

During the time of pregnancy not everything that enters the mothers body via ingestion or vaccination gets passed on to the fetus while still growing inside. The placenta is the gate keeper of what can and cannot come over from the mother to the baby. It will allow oxygen and the specific nutrients the baby needs to develop and grow over the 40 weeks but some antibodies do cross over. The antibodies will do not cross over though until closer to the end of pregnancy after the fetus is close to being fully developed and just gaining weight from now on.

Specific items that can cross no matter the week of gestation the mother is alcohol, nicotine, and some medications. That is why it is important to always ask your doctor if it is safe to take any over the counter medication before ingesting it.

Covid-19 Facts or Fiction 

By: NIAID

• Will the vaccine cause new variants – No. The Covid-19 is a virus so no matter what there was already more than 1 variant of the virus living before the vaccine was developed
• Is mRNA vaccine really a vaccine – Yes. The vaccine is unlike the flu or the measles vaccine where they administer a small piece of the infection so your body learns how to fight it off. A mRNA vaccine when injected teaches the cells how to build a protein that when noticing a Covid-19 protein, will attach and fight off the virus instead.
• Do you get microchipped – No.
  • • • • • • Do you become magnetic – No.
            • Will it effect my DNA – No. The vaccine does not enter the nucleus of the cell. It does cross over the outside wall but never enters the center of the cell at any time.

How does the vaccine effect woman who are pregnant ?

The vaccine effects pregnant woman just the same way it would someone who is just as healthy and not pregnant. It is recommended that woman who are pregnant get the vaccine, because they are more likely to catch the virus and have a harsher cycle of it than someone else. The vaccine just like with anyone else, reduces the chances of getting the virus, going to the hospital, spreading the virus or death. There has been no confirmed cases of infertility or issues related to pregnancy after becoming fully vaccinated. When other vaccines were developed like the yellow fever vaccine, when given to woman who were with child, it either did not end well for the mother, baby, or both. So The World Health Organization put a hold on the vaccine to pregnant woman because they saw it was doing more harm than good. Unlike, the Covid-19 vaccine where no complications like this has arises in regards to the vaccine which is why it is still available to woman that are carrying children. There is no current data saying that the vaccine is passed from mother through the placenta to the fetus.

As long as the mother checks in with her doctors and has no other major health conditions that could prevent her from receiving the vaccine, there is scientific reason to not get the vaccine.

Resources 

AHC MEDIA. (2021). Researchers Study COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach to Pregnant Women: CDC expert offers clarity. Contraceptive Technology Update, 42(8), 1–2.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, November 12). Key things to know about covid-19 vaccines. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythingstoknow.html?s_cid=10493%3Acdc+covid+vaccine%3Asem.ga%3Ap%3ARG%3AGM%3Agen%3APTN%3AFY21.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, November 12). Myths and facts about covid-19 vaccines. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html.

Freeborn, D., Trevino, H. M., & Adler, L. C. (Eds.). (n.d.). Blood circulation in the fetus and newborn. Blood Circulation in the Fetus and Newborn – Health Encyclopedia – University of Rochester Medical Center. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=90&ContentID=P02362.

Jaffe, E., Goldfarb, I. T., & Lyerly, A. D. (2021). The Costs of Contradictory Messages About Live Vaccines in Pregnancy. American Journal of Public Health, 111(3), 498–503. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306045

Uytenbogaardt, A. (2021). COVID-19 vaccines and pregnancy. British Journal of Midwifery, 29(3), 125. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjom.2021.29.3.125

What is the placenta? Pregnancy Birth and Baby. (2020, August). Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/what-is-the-placenta.