JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There is a major push to get pregnant women vaccinated against COVID-19.
But some people have questions surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine and whether it affects a women’s ability to get pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy.
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So the claim we are putting to the Trust Index is can the COVID-19 vaccine lead to a miscarriage?
Certified nurse midwife Lindsay Leider said she understands the hesitancy of pregnant women not wanting to get the vaccine.
“You’re afraid to eat deli meat. You’re afraid to eat sushi. You’re afraid to drink milk. You’re afraid of just about everything during pregnancy. So, to do something that sounds new is scary, I totally understand it,” Leider said.
But she said they need it more than most.
“In pregnancy women are immunocompromised. That’s what helps let them stay pregnant. It doesn’t induce a miscarriage but lets them carry to term,” Leider said.
We know immunocompromised people are at a greater risk of getting severely sick from COVID-19, and a new study released Wednesday provides more evidence that COVID-19 shots are safe.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied more than 2,000 pregnant women who got vaccinated, while a second study done by HealthPartners Institute in Minneapolis looked at data from 105,000 pregnancies.
“It’s a new study, but it’s not new information,” Leider said.
The study revealed that with either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, there was no link between the vaccine and an increased risk of miscarriage.
“It’s saying that we know that there is a significant rate of women who, when they get pregnant, will miscarry. That is, unfortunately, just the facts. We were worried, when introducing anything new into the pregnancy, that we would also increase this risk of miscarriage, and the study shows that is not the case,” Leider said. “So we know, this helps, again, prove that the vaccine is not linked to any severe pregnancy complications.”
So, on the Trust Index, we are going to mark the claim that the COVID-19 vaccine can cause a miscarriage as not true.
Leider said that not only does the vaccine not cause miscarriages, but there is no scientific evidence to prove that it causes poor pregnancy outcomes, infertility or negative side effects to the child. In fact, there is evidence that mothers who get the vaccine can pass along antibodies to their babies, protecting them from the coronavirus from birth.
After review, we've found this information is Not True.