Originally published on December 27, 2020 12:54 pm
There s no data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines on pregnant people or babies who are being breastfed. Dr. Adeline Goss tells Sarah McCammon why she chose to nurse after getting the shot.
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SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST: When Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna conducted their safety trials of their COVID-19 vaccines, they enrolled tens of thousands of volunteers. But several groups were excluded, including pregnant and lactating mothers. And that s left many not knowing whether to get the vaccine. Dr. Adeline Goss is a neurologist in San Francisco. As a frontline health care worker, she was given the opportunity to get vaccinated. And in a Facebook post, she shared the complexities surrounding her decision because she s also a breastfeeding mother. Dr. Goss joins us now.
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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more widely available, many women who are pregnant or breastfeeding are wondering what they should do. Currently in the United States, getting a COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant is a choice for mothers to make.
The CDC recommends pregnant women first consult their doctors, although it is not a requirement. There is limited data when it comes to the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers, however, experts with the CDC said mRNA vaccines are unlikely to pose a risk to these women.
According to the CDC, mRNA vaccines do not interact with genetic material DNA, because the mRNA does not enter the nucleus of the cell and the cells break apart the mRNA quickly. However, the CDC said potential risks of mRNA vaccines to the pregnant person and her fetus are unknown because these vaccines have not been studied in pregnant women.