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Amongst women who have received the Covid-19 vaccine during pregnancy and lactation, did not show any major side effects except occasional fever or body ache, which is also barely evident after taking paracetamol 8 hourly within the first 48 hours, stated Dr Ranjana Dhanu, consultant, gynaecology & obstetrics, P D Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Centre, Khar, Mumbai.
Dr Dhanu added that serial sonographies in pregnant women did not show any hindrance in the growth of the foetus in utero, neither did infants of the lactating mothers presented any complaints to the neonatologist and paediatrician.
The vaccine has proven to be safe in pregnancy, pre-pregnancy and lactation globally, and has been included successfully in the vaccine rollout schedule. The safety of the vaccine has been emphasized by the NTAGI (National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation).
The ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) has also emphasized the need and safety for advocating the vaccine to pregnant and lactating mothers. The percentage of lactating women is fairly high and hence, to safeguard their health, the vaccine against Covid-19 is being made available by health authorities throughout the country.
“While vaccinating pregnant and lactating mothers, they are made to present a note suggesting the fitness to take the vaccine from the concerned gynaecologists or general practitioners and lactating mothers are counselled not to alter the breastfeeding schedule following the vaccine,” stated Dr Dhanu.
Covid-19 as a pandemic has dominated health issues amongst people of all ages in the last 18 months. The kind of casualties that we have witnessed are devastating. With the introduction of the vaccine, the severity of the disease is reasonably reduced and the ability of the affected individual to fight the disease has increased drastically.
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