Covid vaccines are ‘safe for pregnant women and cut stillbirth risk’, study says

Covid-19 vaccines are safe for pregnant women to take and can even reduce the risk of stillbirths, according to a new study.

Researchers at St George’s University of London and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists collated data from studies and trials involving over 115,000 vaccinated pregnant women.

They found that pregnant women – who are more likely to become serious ill if they catch Covid-19 – are 15% less at risk of stillbirth if vaccinated.

“We wanted to see if vaccination was safe or not for pregnant women,” said Asma Khalil, professor of obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine at London’s St George’s Hospital in London to The Guardian.

“It is safe, but what’s surprising, and it’s a positive finding, is that there was a reduction in stillbirths.”

“So far, most of the data on vaccines in pregnancy have been about protecting the pregnant woman herself from Covid. Now we have evidence that the vaccines protect the baby too,” she added.

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Source: The Independent, 10 May 2022