we just got home from work and there's a new statement out today december 16
2020 from the american society of reproductive medicine
all about the use of the covid vaccine and those who are pregnant trying to conceive
or breastfeeding and we just wanted to come and give you that new information tonight yes because
a lot of the questions we have been getting are from women who are in one of those categories
and so today we want to address the seven most common questions um that we've been getting from
you guys about breastfeeding trying to conceive getting pregnant and this new covid 19 vaccine
for all of these answers that we're going to share they're all specifically about the new
mrna vaccines from pfizer and moderna correct okay and the first question that we have is if i got
the vaccine should i wait to try to conceive and the answer here from the task force statement is
no since the vaccine is not a live virus there's no reason to delay pregnancy attempts because of
getting the vaccine and there is no reason to defer treatment until the second dose
has been given yeah uh next question is if i get the vaccine can i continue my ivf cycles
and the answer is yes what we just said yeah so if you got the vaccine there's no reason to delay
or postpone ivf or trying to conceive correct uh next uh should i be worried about the side
effect of fever if i'm trying to conceive or newly pregnant and the answer in here
from the task force statement is no while the covid vaccine can cause fever in some patients
up to about 16 percent seems to be most common after the second dose
that risk of fever should not be a concern when you're deciding whether to get the vaccine
for people who are pregnant or thinking about being pregnant we know there have been studies
that showed fever in pregnancy especially in the first trimester has been associated with neural
tube defects a more recent study has come out that showed that that risk was gone if you control for
women who are taking 400 micrograms of folic acid daily which is just the normal dose in a prenatal
vitamin so make sure you're taking your dose of prenatal vitamins continuing through pregnancy
correct and there are some studies that show fever associated with some congenital defects but there
are some other studies large cohort studies that show no risk of fever and congenital defects so
should you get a fever after you get the covid vaccine take some acetaminophen or tylenol to
bring that fever down yeah and just to restate it so again the side effect of fever should not be a
concern to you if you're trying to conceive or newly pregnant and you get the vaccine okay uh
next should you wait to get the vaccine if you're pregnant or breastfeeding and the answer here is
no the task force does not recommend withholding the vaccine from patients who are planning to just
conceive who are currently pregnant or who are breastfeeding and these recommendations are in
line with the acip the cdc acog and smfm and we have discussed this uh at length in our prior
youtube videos which we can link here so again if you're pregnant or breastfeeding there's no
reason not to get the vaccine right okay uh next if you get the first dose of the vaccine
and then find out you're pregnant should you still get the second yes if you conceive in that window
between the first and second dose congratulations you should absolutely get the second dose at the
appropriate time interval next question does the vaccine cause infertility or could it cause any
bad outcomes in pregnancy no because that mrna vaccine is not made of a live virus they are not
believed to cause an increased risk of infertility first or second trimester loss stillbirth or
congenital anomalies um the pregnant women weren't included in the studies but based on what we know
about how this vaccine works and the initial preliminary safety data that we have the task
force and societies believe it is absolutely safe yeah so the vaccine does not cause infertility
there's no risk of this right we of course don't have data on this yet we're waiting for the animal
studies to come out and then of course we're going to get more information as the vaccine goes out
to the public but there's no theoretical risk of infertility um or negative outcomes in pregnancy
and asrm says get the vaccine yeah and so we will continue to watch this and we'll keep
you up to date with information as we get it yep so the next and final question number seven
do i have to get the vaccine and the answer here is no and the task force strongly encourages
shared decision making between you and your provider and your health care team
they want to make sure that you talk with your provider about what the covid transmission and
is like in your area what the risks of covid are for you personally um your chance of getting that
infection you should talk to your doc about what it would mean if you were sick with covid 19 and
what that would mean for you and your potential baby um they also think it's important to you know
talk to your doctor a little more in depth about the possible side effects of the vaccine the fact
that you know there aren't a lot of um studies or data out about this in pregnancy yet and then do
what feels right and safe for you and your family yeah and so kind of to summarize it all up from
what we know the vaccine should not keep anyone from trying to conceive right getting pregnant
um and if you are pregnant or breastfeeding you should still get the vaccine as we believe it's
safe in all these instances yes something we talked about was that if we were trying to
conceive right now and not already pregnant that we might postpone trying to conceive until after
we got the covet vaccine yep and that was all just because the risk of covid in pregnancy is
real it puts you at a higher risk of needing icu care or a breathing tube and so if we could make
sure that your pregnancy could be safer by getting vaccinated first time that would be the one thing
that would go into that decision making for us given that we're both at risk being healthcare
providers and around people who potentially have covet every day yep but you don't have to get
permission from your ob gyn to get this vaccine there's not a pregnancy test required before you
get this vaccine um so you can just assess the data and make the decision that is best for you
exactly if you are comfortable getting the vaccine and it is available to you please go ahead and do
that yep and just to finally i think kind of wrap it up today there was also a joint statement made
by kind of all of the big ob gyn societies um the american college of obstetric and gynecology the
society of maternal fetal medicine yep the american society for reproductive medicine
yep as well as the urogyn guide society the big gynecologic oncology society one of the societies
in canada aagl everyone said we support the asrm statement we support continued social distancing
universal masking hand washing and recommend that everyone when you can get vaccinated to stop
the spread of covid 19. if you guys have any questions about anything we love hearing from
you please keep them coming and otherwise we look forward to seeing you guys next week
we're doctors but not your doctors anything we've said in this video
is for education or entertainment purposes only it is not medical advice
any specific medical questions you have should be directed to your provider