COVID patients, health experts and governments have again urged mothers-to-be to get vaccinated, with new research adding evidence it could give the baby a head start in life.
New York University has found that women who received an mRNA COVID vaccine, such as the ones made by Moderna and Pfizer, all passed on high levels of antibodies through the umbilical cords to their newborns at the time of the birth, which could give their babies extra protection against the deadly virus.
Mother of twins Kaillee Dyke caught COVID-19 more than a year ago when she was 25 weeks pregnant.
She told The Drum she was still impacted by the effects, including breathlessness, joint pain and energy loss.
While it is still not known if COVID will have a longer-term impact on her babies, the possibility keeps Ms Dyke up at night.
'If I don't make it, please keep my body alive'
Pregnancy increases the risk of getting severe symptoms from COVID-19, with pregnant patients up to three times more likely to need intensive care treatment and five times more likely to need hospitalisation.
There are multiple studies — including by Oxford University — that show premature births are more likely, which can result in developmental delays later in life.
Research is also underway into the impacts of COVID on stillbirth rates.
Ms Dyke and her partner caught COVID in June 2020, before vaccinations were available.
"If I had the choice last year I certainly would have had the vaccine, just knowing how unwell pregnant people do get," she said.
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)"I was not sleeping well because of the chills I was experiencing with COVID and also because I was finding it difficult to hold down food and water."
At one point, Ms Dyke thought she had lost the twins, as their heartbeats were so faint.
Within days of that scare, she deteriorated further.
"I remember laying in the hallway trying to drink water and not being able to hold that down and gasping for air," she said.
She had to be hospitalised and then intubated.
She left her partner with a sobering message.
"If I don't make it, please keep my body alive until my babies are old enough to come out and survive on their own."
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)Ms Dyke gave birth to the twins at 34 weeks. While still small for their age, the pair are currently hitting their milestones.
Multiple studies now show that the vaccines are safe at any stage of pregnancy. A recent vaccine safety survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed vaccines do not alter the chances of miscarriage.
Victoria's Health Department said at least 16 pregnant women had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Victoria since July 15.
More than 500 pregnant people have caught COVID in New South Wales since the outbreak began.
Unvaccinated mothers isolated and scared
In the Liverpool Hospital in Sydney's south-west, the majority of the pregnant women being hospitalised for COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
"We've had women who are under 12 weeks, over 28 weeks at the time of delivery who have been affected," said Gauthami Bhagwanani, the hospital's birthing unit director.
Their symptoms vary, but breathing issues are most common.
She told The Drum that COVID-positive parents are unable to comfort one another, or even their newborns, as they have to be kept apart.
"The women are being admitted without any family support. It's very hard to be in a room by yourself and not have contact with the people that you would want support from."
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In Newcastle, the maternity ward and neonatal intensive care unit at John Hunter Hospital has been struggling to control a COVID-19 outbreak that has infected six parents of newborns.
At the nearby Charlestown Square Medical Centre, GP Kathleen Wild had one dose of AstraZeneca when she found out she was pregnant, and decided to get the second eight weeks into her pregnancy.
"After I fell pregnant, I wanted to continue to get the maximum protection against COVID," Dr Wild said.
"It made me feel a lot more confident to come to work and care for my patients."
The federal government advises Pfizer or Moderna vaccines for pregnant women, but AstraZeneca is also an option for those who have sought medical advice.
At her general practice near Newcastle, Dr Wild counsels people considering having a child, as well as those already pregnant, before vaccinating them.
"If we think of the way vaccines work, it is hard to think of a way in which it could cause fertility problems," she said.
"And we have to compare any potential risk of fertility issues with the COVID vaccine with the risk of getting COVID itself, which has a much more significant effect on multiple body systems than any vaccine could."
The experience for pregnant women overseas
The United States had the highest number of deaths of COVID-positive pregnant women in August.
The CDC issued an emergency alert this week calling on pregnant people to get vaccinated, with 97 per cent of COVID-positive pregnancy hospitalisations occurring in unvaccinated people.
Vaccination rates in pregnancies remain low too — only 31 per cent were fully vaccinated before or during the pregnancy, and the rate was higher for African Americans.
New research from Mount Sinai in New York analysed breast milk and found antibodies are being passed through vaccines, especially Pfizer and Moderna.
It also found mothers who recovered from COVID-19 had neutralising antibodies for up to 10 months.
In the United Kingdom and the US, more than 200,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated without any issues being detected.
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'Vaccination keeps women out of hospital'
Australian obstetric consultant Toby Sutton, who works at a hospital in Bristol in the UK, told The Drum he had witnessed a spike in severe cases during the Delta variant outbreak.
"We know that it does increase the risk of caesarean pre-term birth, so that's where somebody like me has to get involved," Dr Sutton said.
While there is no risk-free pregnancy, Dr Sutton urges parents to consider ways to minimise the risks.
Nearly all the pregnant women who have been hospitalised with a severe infection in the UK were unvaccinated.
"There have been no women admitted to the hospital for COVID symptoms that have had a double dose of vaccination. It is effective, it is safe," Dr Sutton said.
"Vaccination does keep women out of hospital, it keeps them out of ICU, it keeps the baby inside so it can be born with its maximum potential for the rest of its life."
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)One of Dr Sutton's cases remains with him; a COVID positive mother in her twenties who had her baby at 27 weeks. The situation weighed heavy.
"You are holding her hand, and telling her that you are going to take care of her, and take care of the baby, but you don't really know how things are going to play out," he said.
Thankfully this baby came out with a fighting spirit, but it would be another six weeks until the mother was well enough to meet her child.
This though, Dr Sutton said, could be avoided if mothers get vaccinated.
The Drum airs weeknights on ABC, and online via iview.
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2021-10-02 01:30:13Z
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