I'm 16 weeks pregnant, and am so scared of the vaccine for covid19. I keep hearing that it might cause me to miscarry - is that true? Will it harm my baby in any way? If it could, how exactly could it?
On the other hand, will it protect my baby? I know my baby will get my antibodies through the placenta, but are these antibodies included in that?
Thanks for your help.
There is some early evidence that antibodies against COVID are passed on to the baby: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/03/study-shows-covid-19-vaccinated-mothers-pass-antibodies-to-newborns/ Keep in mind that most women of child-bearing age were not eligible for the vaccine until around May of this year, and the vaccine was only recommended for those already pregnant beginning a few months ago. So, there aren't a ton of babies who have been born to vaccinated mothers yet. The evidence is promising, and even if the antibodies don't fully transfer to the baby, at least you won't likely get COVID yourself, and potentially pass it on to your newborn.
The best reason of all to get vaccinated during pregnancy is that having a COVID infection while pregnant DOES increase the risk to your developing baby - emerging evidence shows that the risk of pre-term birth or pregnancy loss is much higher in those who are pregnant and infected with COVID: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/special-populations/pregnancy-data-on-covid-19/what-cdc-is-doing.html
This one about maternal outcomes while giving birth, infected with COVID is pretty scary: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-08-11/women-giving-birth-with-covid-19-face-higher-risk-of-death - and I'm not posting it to scare you, but hopefully just to let you know that having a COVID vaccine is way, way safer for you and your baby than risking getting COVID.
Make sure you talk to your doctor about your concerns. Only your doctor can assess your personal health status and determine the best time for you to get vaccinated, but in general, the evidence is pretty clear that it's a good idea for pregnant women.
Good luck with your pregnancy!