Column: For pregnancies, vaccine questions natural, benefits substantial

Four years ago, when I was pregnant with my first child, I found myself questioning my habits and actions like never before. What kinds of fish are safe and how much should I eat? Are there certain kinds of exercise that could actually be harmful? If I attend a loud concert, will it make my baby anxious or uncomfortable?

As a public health professional, I often turned to science for answers to these and other questions. Yet as any expecting mother will tell you, sometimes we need more than facts. We also want reassurance that we’re doing everything in our power to protect the new life growing within us, and that we’re making the best decisions for ourselves and our families.

Now that I’m pregnant again during this pandemic, the biggest question is: How can I protect my baby, myself, and my family against COVID-19? When I consider the science, the answer is clear: Get vaccinated.

Besides being proven safe for me, the vaccine itself doesn’t actually reach the baby; it doesn’t cross the placenta or make its way into breast milk. Rather, it stimulates my body to create antibodies that protect me from the virus, and that give my baby natural resistance to it after he’s born. Looked at it rationally, the vaccine provides excellent protection for me, my baby and my entire family.

But what about the emotional aspects of vaccination? Few people like needles, but even scarier is having to make important risk-benefit decisions with less information and more uncertainty than we’d like.

Here’s how I see it. The risks associated with going unvaccinated while pregnant are significant and terrifying, and they far outweigh any risks of the vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 128,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among pregnant people through Oct. 11. Cases of COVID-19 in symptomatic pregnant people have a 70% higher risk of death compared to nonpregnant people, as well as increased risks of preterm birth, stillbirth, and infection of the newborn.

News stories about unvaccinated mothers dying of COVID-19 — 180 to date in the United States — are incredibly tragic. Here in Hawaii, we’ve had three maternal deaths due to COVID-19 during this delta surge, and my heart breaks for the families left behind.

This is why — for reasons both logical and emotional — I made the decision to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Moreover, while many aspects of pregnancy are personal, we give birth and raise children as members of families and communities. Working in the field of maternal and infant health — and as a Native Hawaiian concerned about the disparate impact COVID-19 has had on our lahui — I feel a responsibility to our entire community to encourage everyone, especially other pregnant people, to get vaccinated. We owe it to ourselves, our babies, our families, and each other.

Jennifer Elia, Dr.PH., is the maternal and infant health lead for the Early Childhood Action Strategy.