Breastfeeding, pregnancy, and the coronavirus vaccine, and why you should think twice before urging everyone to get their shot while so many are being told they’re not allowed.
Tags: Coronavirus, Covid 19, Breastfeeding, Vaccine, Pregnancy

Breastfeeding, pregnancy, and the coronavirus vaccine, and why you should think twice before urging everyone to get their shot while so many are being told they’re not allowed. Ruth Dec 15, 2020·4 min read

Did no one think of which gender makes up the majority of the caring workforce?

Did no one think of which gender is more likely to get pregnant and breastfeed?

It certainly looks like nobody did.

So many people have taken to social media to spread the message, “if you are offered the vaccine, take it!” for the best of motives, of course, but still, it galls me to see that being said over and over again when there are HUGE NUMBERS of people who are being told they CANNOT have the vaccine.

Those who are currently breastfeeding.

Those who are pregnant.

And even — here’s a kicker — those who are planning to become pregnant in the coming months, which means a lot of women and people with a uterus are going to have to decide whether they have to change their plans to try to become pregnant, not disclose why they don’t want the vaccine (and thereby risk looking like a crank), or come out and tell everyone their plans, potentially risking their job (it shouldn’t happen. We know that. But it does).

The government advice to those who are breastfeeding is currently, “wait until you’ve stopped.” Well listen up here Kevin I* breastfed my eldest until he was nearly five years old, and I’m still breastfeeding my youngest at the age of nearly three-and-three-quarters, and frankly, that’s a pretty long wait when there’s a potentially deadly respiratory pathogen doing the rounds, if you work in a role that puts you at a higher chance of catching this virus.

I imagine a lot of those currently breastfeeding will decide to wean in order to have the vaccine, as a result of the government advice.

Now. If they want to wean, if that’s a free choice based on all the available information, well — ‘my body my choice’ — that’s up to them.

But this is the thing. We do NOT have all the information. It’s not at all unlikely that soon we’ll have better data and that data will show that the vaccine is safe when breastfeeding, or some variation on ‘safe’ (so perhaps, safe for older babies who have more fully-developed metabolisms and/or breastfeed less often. Or maybe, safe if the mother is prepared to temporarily cease breastfeeding for a time, whether hours or days, immediately after the vaccination, which again, might be acceptable to someone with an older baby or toddler but less so in those with a younger baby whose only food source is breast milk). We also know that the AstraZeneca vaccine has more data on this, and looks very promising when it comes to breastfeeding.

We also know that stopping breastfeeding before the person wants to can correlate with depression. We ALSO know that breastfeeding is very good for babies, and it may even protect against COVID-19.

So telling those frontline caring workers who are breastfeeding that they can’t have the vaccination until/unless they stop is potentially pretty risky.

It would not be as bad if we were telling them this based on absolute cast-iron solid data. If we categorically knew that breastfeeding was a complete and utter no-no for a long period after having had the Pfizer vaccine administered and that no other vaccine was coming along for a long time. If we knew this for a fact, then yes, it would be less reckless.

But we don’t. We don’t have that information, and so the government has done what I have seen countless medical professionals do and err on the side of caution in a way that assumes breastfeeding is an unimportant added extra. Once again breastfeeding is seen almost as a kind of affectation. It’s certainly seen as something that’s done for a few weeks, months at most, and can be stopped quickly, easily and happily in every single case.

The advice and suggestions from people involved in breastfeeding support is to WAIT FOR THE DATA, or at least, wait for the next vaccine. Already there seem to be some data emerging on the vaccine during pregnancy (based on animal studies, and I do not have the space here to get into a debate about that). Surely it will not be long until we learn about its safety during breastfeeding too (if anything, lots of medications that are contraindicated during pregnancy are allowed during breastfeeding, so my hunch — and it is only that, a hunch, don’t make any decisions based on my hunch — would be that if the vaccine is safe in pregnancy, it will be safe during breastfeeding). And it looks like the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will almost certainly be approved soon, has looked in more depth at effects during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

But I cannot help thinking — did no one think this through?

And I do also think everyone talking about the vaccine and urging others to take it should maybe know about this.

*I’m not going to be offered the vaccine for a long time, sadly, so at least this doesn’t affect me. But it does affect friends of mine.