COVID Vaccination Is Expected To Protect Mothers and Babies

The role of SARS-CoV-2 as it relates to pregnancy in women is still somewhat shrouded in mystery. Can a COVID-19 infection negatively impact a new mother’s health in any way? The virus’s presentation during this critical time in a woman’s life is currently being scrutinized.

New data from the University of Edinburgh Usher Institute shows that vaccinated mothers tend to experience smoother births and deliver healthier babies in addition to avoiding an unfortunate coronavirus infection while carrying. What’s the connection?

Unvaccinated Pregnant Women Are Much More Likely to Experience Perinatal Distress

The COVID-19 in Pregnancy in Scotland study (COPS) is a sub-study of EAVE II (Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance of COVID-19). COPS is a statistical, whole-population data inquiry that cross-analyzed the relationship between pregnancy outcomes and the vaccination status of 130,000 Scottish mothers.

Several disturbing trends have been highlighted here, most notably that, out of all the mothers under observation, 98% of those admitted to critical care during their deliveries were, in fact, unvaccinated. Unvaccinated mothers also represented all 450 of the perinatal deaths reported, with the child’s death occurring in the womb just before birth or shortly thereafter.

This endeavor is making the rounds, partly due to the fact that we know very little about COVID-19 in pregnant women at this time. Most of what we do know comes incidentally, from women who inadvertently became pregnant while participating in a clinical trial, and from animal studies. This large-scale report is truly the first of its kind, as far as the pandemic is concerned.

What Else Did COPS Find?

The researchers also found evidence supporting a few other related claims:

• Pregnant women aren’t more likely to contract SARS-CoV-2, but they do appear to become significantly sicker when they are infected—they’re more likely to require admission to critical care, for example, and to receive ventilation
• With that being said, of all the SARS-CoV-2 cases reported in this study, 77.4% of them occurred in unvaccinated mothers
• The further along in her pregnancy a woman with COVID is, the more likely it’ll be that she’ll need to be hospitalized
• Vaccination rates in pregnant women appeared to be much lower in younger mothers and underprivileged mothers

The results are grounding, but far from unexpected. This surveillance study prevails mainly because it’s one of the most comprehensive conducted on the topic thus far.

Why Is COVID-19 So Dangerous for Pregnant Women?

Even studies carried out at the very beginning of the pandemic found a positive correlation between pregnant women with COVID-19 and preeclampsia (an endocrine disorder characterized by high blood pressure in pregnant women), gestational diabetes, low birth weight, pre-term birth, and stillbirth. 

The link here is believed to be due in part to the physiological, metabolic, and vascular changes associated with both ordinary pregnancies and high-risk pregnancies, and how these changes complicate a COVID-19 infection in the body.

Some of these phenomenon include heightened vasoconstriction and inflammation in the respiratory system. The body’s ability to clot blood may also be disrupted, resulting in conditions like preeclampsia, mentioned above. 

Can a Vaccine Prevent Your Baby From Getting COVID-19?

Apparently, it can. The antibodies that you receive through a COVID vaccine pass through the placenta and may even be conveyed to an infant through breastfeeding, as well.

This phenomenon can be described as sharing “passive immunity” with your child—more evidence pointing to the importance of a vaccine even if your pregnancy is already underway. The same principle has also been found to be true for other types of vaccinations, such as vaccines for smallpox, hepatitis, and yellow fever.

The fact that a vaccination during pregnancy protects the unborn child just as much as it protects the mother is not a new notion. We’re happy to report that this fact rings just as true in our current predicament: a COVID-19 vaccine. At the same time, pregnancy confers at least some immune protection against the coronavirus onto your child, as well.

Why Are Expectant Mothers Vaccine-Hesitant, Statistically?

According to the relevant research, pregnant women may stand to benefit more from a COVID-19 vaccine for several reasons. One of these reasons has to do with the body’s immune response to being pregnant; the immune system is repressed in order to prevent an autoimmune response wherein the body attacks the unborn fetus as a foreign entity.

To be fair, in a general sense, new vaccines aren’t usually approved for pregnant women right off the bat. Several additional trial periods on top of the one that earns the new vaccine approval for public consumption will be required before exposing women in this delicate condition to any unexpected consequences that may arise in the context of pregnancy.

Many women find themselves in a heightened state of wariness after conceiving, even to things like cosmetic products and foods of dubious origin or preparation. This caution appears to carry over to vaccines in any capacity, as well, but these fears are often largely unfounded.

Vaccine technology has come a long way since they’ve first been employed on a societal scale and has advanced even further in recent years, even throughout this relatively short period of public health history. Our means of vaccine production becomes safer and more refined with every new breakthrough, and information pertaining to infectious disease and the importance of vaccination is more accessible to ordinary people than ever before.

Not only are the women who need vaccines more informed and more concerned about their own health and the health of their future children—we now understand the immune system much more intimately, both on its own and as it intersects with maternal biochemistry. 

Minimizing Maternal and Fetal Morbidity: Is Vaccination the Key?

Clearly, many factors contribute to the outcome that a mother finds at the end of the golden brick road. Most women are willing to go to extraordinary lengths in service of their future child’s well-being, and with good reason. 

With Omicron still looming in the air, a full round of COVID vaccination may be another way to protect themselves and prevent their children from contracting the virus both before and after being born.

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