My OBGYN asked if I got the Flu shot before getting preggers, told her no. Said having the flu while pregnant can be devastating for unborn baby. She scared the beegeebees out of me and now I'm afraid of being around sick people. She advised me to get the flu shot at 20 weeks which is 10 more weeks for me. Just curious, did you get the Flu shot before getting pregnant?
Don't stress about it! I have never had, and will not be getting, the flu shot. My brother and Dad get the shot every year and are the two who most commonly get it in our family. If you practice personal hygeine and maintain your general health you should be fine! The flu shot actually only protects against a few strains of the flu, while there are hundreds maybe even thousands of strains out there. Being young and my ideal weight with good levels of everything in my blood, my doctor actually advised me AGAINST having the flu shot last flu season (though I was not/still am not pregnant).
I didn't get it before but I got it during, I think right around 20 weeks. I don't normally get one but I did while pregnant. You're immune-compromised already and the flu can be much more dangerous during pregnancy.
We went and saw the OB 3 months prior to starting to try and then conceived 2 months later. He recommended stopping birth control, starting prenatals plus DHA or fishoil, and getting the flushot and HPV vaccine. So I basically just did it all because he said so. I had actually already done the HPV.
He said getting the flu while pregnant and possibly getting a fever is very dangerous for the fetus.
The flushot doesnt completely prevent you from getting sick though! I think its just a good idea to keep some anti bacterial next to your desk and dont get too close to people anyway. I still do!
It's true thar avoiding the flu is important but I believe the seasonal flu shot does more harm than good.
Look up news articles on "it wasn't just 'the Canadian problem', after all."
I'm sure many people would automatically disagree wtih my stance but if you do your own thorough research (about 3 hours' effort should be fine, not reading whatever the conventional opinion is and assuming it's all solid fact), you can form your own opinion on the seasonal flu shot.
I still would get a specialized shot for any serious epidemic flu that may happen, however.
Meantime, I would take precautions to avoid the flu.
Keep your winter gloves on when touching the gas pump, the shopping cart handle. At work, wash your hands with soap and water frequently. Learn not to touch your face habitually. Don't hug sniffling people. Avoid crowds, like malls, when possible. Try to avoid sitting/standing near smiffling ppl, or their workspace, etc., for longer than absolutely necessary. Wash your hands and face as soon as you get home. If you were around a sick person or visited a hospital or school, take off those clothes right when you get home and put them right in the laundry basket. Eat very healthy, lots of fruit and veg. Sleep enough. Stay fit. Keep your stress low. Use zinc and ginger especially at the first sign of a throat tickle. Dress for the weather.
I don't get sick much, not even a cold. I know it's because I'm vigilant like this. Yes, I hugged some very sniffly people on xmas, and no, I didn't avoid xmas shopping at the mall, etc. ... this isn't meant to be rigid rules never broken, just follow them 'as best as is reasonably possible.'
Never had the flu or gotten the flu shot, and I didn't get one this year either. *knock on wood and fingers crossed* I've been having sinus issues (as usual) but that's the worst so far. I work in an urgent care clinic, so I'm around sick and injured people all day, so I feel like I have a bit of an immunity built up.
I don't normally get a shot, but want to get one while ttc due to the fact that pregnant women are so much likelier to have complications, more severe flu, etc.
The flu shot is routinely "recommended" by health professionals during pregnancy, although as joya_aspera pointed out, the research is varied in conclusion and hand hygeine plays an important role.
What I'm curious about, though, is why the doctor suggested to wait? Isn't the flu shot (theoretically) most effective in protecting you in the height of the flu season? (ie. NOW). Yes, it's true that flu complications are most severe later in pregnancy due to decreased air exchange in the lungs, but a shot now would protect you for the duration of the pregnancy, and as far as I know, the strains don't change until the next fall.
Do your research to see if you think the evidence is sufficient for you to get the shot on it's own merit.
I usually never get the flu shot but I want to do everything I can to avoid getting sick while pregnant, so I got it after my first trimester was over.
I am also making everyone that will be around the baby have the shot, personally- along with whooping cough.
@joya_aspera: I guess that's nice that you can be vigilant like that... but keep in mind that's just not a luxury all people have.
I never got the flu shot before, and I got the actual flu once when I was 13 and once two years ago, so I figure that's not bad. And I definitely have a job that I'm touching sick people and having them actively spit/bite/throw bodily fluds at me, have to go to the hospital all the time, and I can't just stay out of the mall/arenas/other dirty places. I go wherever my clients require service, so it's just not that simple.
I got it this year because we were actively TTC, and had the shot about two months before I got pregnant. So far so good, but who knows if I would have gotten it anyway. I wasn't due :P
@SamanthaLovesJames: my doctor told me the complete opposite and said that getting the flu during pregnancy could be more dangerous and that the shot is perfectly safe. I got it when I was around 6 weeks.
Received mine after we got PG. Never heard of waiting for the flu shot though.
I got it while pregnant, but because of where I was in my pregnancy, that also put my shot towards the beginning of flu season.
Dr had me get the shot between 6 and 7 weeks. The nurse actually gave it to me at my first appointment/pre-consultation thing.
I'm 21 weeks pregnant and haven't gotten it, I've actually never gotten it - and so far I'm one of the only people at my work who HASN'T gotten the flu, despite the fact that many of them did get the shot (I work retail, so germs are pretty tough to avoid when people are handing you cash and their credit cards all day, I'm vigilant about hand washing and hand sazitizer, but still.) My midwife did ask if I'd like to get it but wasn't insistent about it. My dad manages a pharmacy that gives the shot and even he doesn't really think it's necessary just because, like some PPs said, it only protects from a few strains when there are many out there, and other past vaccines have caused a reaction in me anyways...so I skipped it.
And...going to be honest, I just really really really hate needles. Like, vomit and pass out hate. The kind of hate where I will have a filling done without being numbed for the sole purpose of avoiding a shot. I feel a bit selfish for having that reaction, but I haven't found a way to control my body's reaciton, and my midwife did also point out that hyperventilating and/or passing out isn't really good for my baby either. So no shot for me.
I had never gotten one before, so I didn't intend to. But my doctor advised me to get one so I did at about 16 weeks.
I've never got a flu shot and never had the flu (well, when I was like 7...). I guarantee you the day I get the flu shot is the day I get the flu.
got the flu shot when i was about 12 weeks. it protects against swine flu and the previous years strain of flu, which really isnt that helpful! i was told that getting the flu when pregnant isnt the bad thing, its the dehydration and fever that can come with it. i know lots of people who have had the flu whilst pregnant and just had to make sure they were properly hydrated. baby was fine.
I work at a children's hospital, we are required to get the flu shot. No shot = no job. So yes, I got it.
@Wonderstruck: Not that I'm saying you should get the shot, but if you want to avoid passing out when you are getting a needle (or anything needle related), tense all your muscles, tight as you can. This really works. The tensing will stop you from passing out.
Your doctor is right- the flu can be devastating for a fetus. A big new study just came out linking flu/fever during pregnancy to autism: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/autism-pregnancy-fever-flu_n_2103386.html
It is true that the flu shot won't protect against all forms, but it will protect you against the three that you are most likely to encounter this year. Hand hygiene is still really important too. Don't be scared, just take steps to protect yourself.
The conspiracy theories about the flu shot (and vaccines in general) really bother me. I just don't get the mentality of "Well, I've never gotten the flu so I won't bother getting a flu shot." To me that's like saying, "Well, my house has never burned down so I won't bother getting insurance" or "I've never gotten into a car accident so I won't bother buckling up." It's a (usually) free, simple way to get yourself a little insurance. According to the CDC the only reason anyone shouldn't get one is if they are allergic to eggs or have had Guillan-Barre syndrome in the past.
By the way, I am a medical professional and I have a master's degree in public health. My mother is an autism researcher, too.
@vermonster: Thanks - I agree, but you have a much better basis than I do. Mine is just personal.
I skipped the flu shot in my office two years ago when I wasn't pregnant (because it doesn't agree with me), got the flu and proceeded to spend 4 days with a fever over 100 degrees. That alone would be VERY BAD for baby. Not to mention the difficulties getting nutrients etc. I ended up having complications and was in the hospital overnight.
On a risk/reward scale, I look at it as similar, though a much easier decision, as skipping deli meat because of the listeria risk. Ok, the risk may be low, but the possible damage you could do doesn't seem worth eating the meat/not getting a shot (unless you're allergic of course).
Definitely got the flu shot this year, as did DH.
I get my flu shot every year since I work in health care and can pass germs along to other immunocompromised patients without actually being sick myself.
I made sure that I got the SHOT and NOT the MIST. The mist is an attenuated virus, which means it is weakened- not dead. A dead virus can't make you sick, however under certain circumstances a live/living/deadened/weakened virus can. I also asked that they administer a preservative free vaccine.
I will concede that a few years ago, two years in a row, I got the flu even having had the vaccine because it doesn't prevent all strains of the virus. Luckily, I didn't get quite as sick and I wasn't sick quite as long as my non-vaccinated friends who also got sick.
I find the flu shot thing interesting because so many people don't get it and others are so adamant about getting it.
I can never remember having the flu (since I can't remember if I ever did during childhood)...so that is at least 18 years with no flu. Not even a little bit. I don't take any extra or extreme precautions regarding germs either. I'm afraid if I ever got one I would get the flu because so many people get a shot and then seem to get the flu.
If I got pregnant I could see myself not wanting one. If I've never had the flu in 18 (or more) years what are the chances I get it when pregnant? (I actually don't know the answer to that)
Got mine at the beginning of flu season--I can't remember exactly how far along I was, but it was around the 20-week mark. There's no guarantee that you won't get the flu, but I figured it was better than being totally unprotected. Second graders are not the most hygenic little boogers, even with a lecture from the school nurse that they need to take care of Mrs. Peaches and the baby...
I work at a hospital so like Abbyful, no shot, no job.
But when I was pregnant I always got the flu shot. In a couple of my pregnancies I was pretty far along (like around 15 or 20 weeks) when I got the shot but that was just due to when the flu shot came out for that season. The OBs around me don't tend to wait in order to give the shot.
I agree with Vermonster about the flu shot. I am fully in the camp that the flu shot does more good than harm.
And at least in my state, we have had an early onset of influenza this year (and study has shown that the influenza strain going around is the one covered by the shot) and most of the hospitalized patients did NOT have the flu shot. These patients are really sick. That's not to say they won't recover, but to me, why risk it and not get the flu shot?
@vermonster: Amen! I literally never get sick and I do not dedicate that to the fact that I get the flu shot. I am big on cleanliness! I wash my hands and use hand sanitizer constantly. The flu shot is just peace of mind. I will do anything in my capabilities to make sure my baby has the highest chances of being perfect as possible because that is my job as a mother.
I got it at about 15 weeks preggers.
It is safe for baby and the effects of flu on baby and pregnant mother can be serious.
@MrsB1015: I also use hand sanitizer and try to be really hygeinic.
But I do rate the flu shot (at least for myself) - since having it I've not had flu, and I used to before it.
@joya_aspera: I think those things are all sensible, but I also personally still need the flu shot. Sometimes I get stressed and run down and can't do anything about it.
I never used to get the flu shot and then I got the flu two years ago. It was so terrible I seriously thought I was going to die (I wasn't, but that's just how horrible I felt). I got the shot this year around 15 weeks, but that was back in September. I did end up getting sick about a month ago and I'm just extremely thankful it wasn't the flu.
No.... but it wasn't available for this year until I was about 15 weeks. I got it then. The flu this year is particularly bad and can be terrible for a pregnant woman/fetus.
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