Expecting mothers administered COVID-19 vaccine, but with consideration

PITTSBURGH — On Thursday, patients at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital participated in a vaccination clinic for expectant mothers.

“I’m find with getting a vaccine. I’ve gotten lots, but I have never had a child before,” said Meg Graham, expecting mother.

Meg Graham is 24 weeks pregnant. She told Channel 11 for weeks, she pondered getting the COVID-19 vaccine, a decision she took seriously.

“This is my first and I was very worried. How is this going to affect the baby,” said Graham.

Hundreds of women participated in Thursday’s clinic, where women in different stages of their pregnancies were vaccinated.

“I feel pretty good about it. After seeing other pregnant woman and coworkers, no one really had any side effects,” said Breawna Taylor, expecting mother.

Breawna Taylor isn’t just a soon to be mom, but she also works at an area hospital.

“My doctor told me the baby would be born with antibodies, so that helped,” said Taylor.

“We understand there is a lot of information out there, some has been good information, some has been misinformation,” said Dr. Richard Beigi, UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital.

The hospital’s president is a gynecologist who has been involved with vaccinations during pregnancies for decades.

Dr. Beigi says he’s been closely reviewing the latest data coming from the CDC.

“When started to look at data, the absolute risk to pregnant woman is not huge, pregnant women in general are more likely to get sicker if they get COVID, and end up in the ICU and on a ventilator,” said Dr. Beigi.

The information Dr. Beigi refers to is from the CDC’s VSafe Program.

The program is a smartphone based tool that uses text messages and surveys to monitor people after their vaccinations.

Dr. Beigi says the data coming from women who recently gave birth, is very promising.

Most of the expecting mothers Channel 11 spoke with on Thursday said they sympathize with anyone trying to make the right decision for themselves and their baby.

“It’s better to have Covid vaccine while pregnant than get Covid while pregnant. I just decided, that’s my decision I’m going to stick to it. It took me a few months to get there.”

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