Pregnant & Debating Flu/swineflu Vaccine

I am pregnant as well and due in November...right at the beginning of flu season. I am also a stay at home mom and have a 2 year old. My husband works as a Kitchen Cook, so no real interaction with "potentially sick people." So, we're all pretty low risk as far as getting the flu, so I always thought that we wouldn't get the shots. Well, I was at my 30 week appointment last week and my doctor convinced me to get the Regular Flu Shot. I had never gotten the flu shot or the flu before...ever! But, the way my doctor put it was that if I got the flu shot, my daughter would have the antibodies to protect her against the flu when she is born...Plus, I will be breastfeeding, so she'll be doubly protected! My doctor's office only carries the mercury free flu vaccine,so that made me feel a little better about getting a vaccine while pregnant.

As far as the Swine Flu vaccine goes, I am dead set against getting it. It's just too new for me to risk any ill side effects for my family. And, since we are fairly low risk for contracting the disease anyway, I am very comfortable with my decision against the vaccine.

Now, since when you have your little one, flu season will be pretty much over with, I probably wouldn't get it. But, that's just me...like I said earlier, the only reason I got it last week was to help protect my newborn when she is born. Fortunately, for you, your newborn will be born after flu season...

Sorry this is SO long!!! :)

Well there is a lot for everyone to think about here. I too am pregnant and my doctor said at my next apt we would talk about the flu shots. Well I know that she is going to recommend it cause I had to get it with my daughter. I also had to have antibiotics during my labor and she is a fine. She is health smart. So that is one of those things that my happen to some and not other for some reason.
But back to the flu shot. I will be getting the flu shot cause I've done it before and I know she was fine. But as for the swine flu I am a little skeptical like everyone else but I think I am considered high risk for getting it since my husband work at SLU and they already have 26 cases and counting. So I guess I really don't have a choice in getting it or not. But I think I would rather be on the safe side since I had a friend that refused to get the flu shot while she was pregnant and her son was born with problems with his eye. She was told it was a combination on some genetics and her getting the flu while she was pregnant.
Also they do have a special shot for pregnant women so it not the same as the one everyone else gets. I also found an article that they are testing pregnant women with the swine flu shot this week all over the country. They will be testing the mother before they give the shot and after. They will also be testing the cord blood to see how much the baby actually gets. So we will hopefully have a results back soon.
Whatever you do is up to but I'm just here to say that I know first hand that the regular flu shot is safe.

I am 32 weeks and was also told by my OB to get both flu shots (regular and h1n1.) I went to a Take Care clinic at Walgreens and got the regular flu shot and they do NOT give formulas with thimerisol (sp?), the mercury derived preservative, to pregnant women or children under 8. So I felt fine about getting it. I have never had any kind of flu shot before, but since our baby is due at the beginning of flu season I felt better knowing it will be protected. And I also feel better knowing they don't give shots with preservatives to pregnant women. Hope this helps!

My younger son has PDD have you ever looked at the correlation between antibiotics during labor and autism? All four of my kids had the same shots but only one got autism, the one I got antibios during labor with.

So far as the flu shot goes I was pregnant with all four during flu season and never got the flu. I have not got the flu shot.

The sad reality is that individuals are faced with these desisions and must live with the results of making these decisions, but few have enough trustworthy information upon which they can confidently make a decision about vaccines.
There is much to learn and understand about the truly-scientific and the twisted-scientific history of vaccines, how they are developed, how poorly they are tested and observed for long-term effects, the effects of the various toxic ingredients both individually and in combination, and the lack of appreciation for the way the immune system develops when it is not artificially manipulated. After 24 years of reading and researching this topic, one thing I can tell you for sure is that each parent needs to become truly informed for themselves. Don't think that you have to attend medical school to understand a bit of biology. I have heard many a doctor or nurse make completely untrue and unscientific statements about vaccines.

There is a lot more to know than the fact that 25 micograms of mercury injected into an infant's bloodstream is excessively beyond the limit of 5 micograms of mercury which the EPA tells us is the most an adult can tollerate on a given day from food sources. Trace amounts of mercury in food has a good chance of being filtered out by normal liver function, whereas there is little to prevent it from causing neurological damage when injected. According to one doctor I spoke with, during pregnancy a woman's body will dump about 80% of the mercury she receives into the placenta. But, again, that is just some of the truth about mercury and many of us have learned to demand mercury free medications and vaccines. But, there are still practitioners who will offer pregnant women and young children a vaccine containing mercury. For some reason, they 'feel' it is safe.

There is also much to be understood about the effects of the other vaccine ingredients, such as alluminum, MSG, antibiotics, anti-freeze, undigested foreign animal proteins, etc, and their relationship to fibromyalgia symptoms, breathing disorders, allergies, digestive sensitivities, developmental dysfunction, and auto-immune disorders. Also, keep in mind that any neuro-toxin has a far more devestating effect on a developing nerve cell than on mature nerve tissue. And, due to the sacrifices a mother's body makes to build a baby, her cellular defenses are more vulnerable. This is why a pregnant woman IS more vulnerable to catching a flu and should limit her exposure. However, this IS ALSO why she should limit her exposure to vaccines, which may trigger far more devastating results than a bout with the flu.

One place to begin gathering objective information is from the National Vaccine Information Center. You can also read the warnings Dr. Mercola has posted about the swine flu vaccine at http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/0... and http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/0....

Keep in mind that a very educated person can also be a very miseducated person. I've learned that the truth has a certain ring to it and each of us has to seek out the truth for ourselves. When my son was young, some called me neglegent because of the vaccines we avoided. I remember thinking it strange that the people who neglected to do the research and take the responsibility of making a decision based on sound information would call the parents who did their homework neglegent!! That just is not reasonable.

So, my advice would be to keep gathering information until you can make a decision you feel confident about. Don't just act on fears that are made popular by the media.

Please get the vaccinations! You would be risking not only your own health--as pregnancy lowers your body's immune response so as not to attack the baby--but you other children's health as well. They give vaccines withOUT mercury--which is the only thing linked to negative side-effects that I know of--for pregnant women, so seek out one of those. I'm not a doctor, but I was pregnant two years ago during flu season and they tell you to get it if you're after the first trimester and I did. I also have a sister who is family practice and she urged me to get the shot--especially because I was pregnant.

With a k-school child in the house, you'll all be exposed to lots of viruses this season, so I'd want to be prepared.

Good luck with the pregnancy!