Can women get COVID-19 vaccine anytime after delivery? Here's what experts say

Healthcare experts have stated that a woman can get vaccinated against COVID-19 at any time after her baby is born and have emphasised the importance of allowing vaccination of pregnant women to protect them from the infection. Vaccination for lactating mothers was recently approved by the government. Breastfeeding after vaccination is not a problem, according to the NITI Aayog Member (Health) and it should not be stopped "even for an hour." According to medical experts, a woman can get vaccinated against COVID-19 at any time after her baby is born.

Vaccination after delivery

A vaccinated, breastfeeding mother poses no risk to the newborns, according to Dr Khan Amir Maroof, Professor, Department of Community Medicine, University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi. He said, "There is no reason to delay the vaccination after delivery."

Furthermore, he mentioned that lactating women do not need to take any special precautions when it comes to vaccination, and that the same precautions that apply to the general population apply to them as well. Vaccination can be performed at any stage of the menstrual cycle, according to Dr Loveleena Nadir, senior consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician at Fortis La Femme, Rosewalk Hospital, and Apollo Cradle Royale.

She noted, "COVID-19 is not an indication for caesarean delivery but there has been an increased frequency of pre-term births and caesarean deliveries, probably due to maternal illness associated with COVID-19 infection. If one has recovered from Covid infection, defer vaccination for 3 months from date of recovery." She stated that if a woman has taken the first dose and then finds out she is pregnant, she can keep the pregnancy going. She added, "Pregnancy doesn't increase the risk of acquiring SARS-COV-2 infection but appears to worsen the clinical course as compared to non-pregnant women. Pregnancy doesn't increase the risk of acquiring SARS-COV-2 infection but appears to worsen the clinical course as compared to non-pregnant women."

COVID-19 vaccination in women 

Experts also emphasised the importance of immunising pregnant women to prevent them from infection.  According to Dr Maroof, COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women is not yet recommended by government guidelines.

He explained, "This is because the Covid vaccine trials were not done on pregnant women and their safety and efficacy related data is not available. The Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India has, however, recommended that Covid vaccine should be given to pregnant women as the risk of getting infected with Covid and mortality is high during this pandemic," he said. This seems to be higher than the risk due to the side effects of the vaccine."

According to Dr Sujeet Ranjan, Executive Director of the Coalition for Food and Nutrition Security (CFNS) in New Delhi, WHO guidelines state that pregnant and lactating mothers can be vaccinated, but the National Technical Advisory Group (NTAGI) on Immunization in India is debating the issue.

He said, "We are hopeful that Health Ministry may soon allow COVID-19 jab for pregnant women also. There are many countries that have already started Covid vaccination of pregnant and lactating mothers. In the present time, scientists are trying to generate enough data to recommend. We have learned that neither of the two Covid vaccines being administered in India -- Covishield or Covaxin -- has been tested on pregnant or lactating women for its impact, efficacy and side effects. Therefore, we need to strictly follow the policy advice by the Health Ministry."

Dr Jaideep Malhotra, former president of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India and founder of the Rainbow IVF Infertility Centre, said it's important to spread the word that the vaccines currently available in India don't contain live virus, so they're safe for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and won't cause any more serious side effects like abortions or congenital anomalies.

Dr Malhotra, "Very important message is that vaccinating pregnant women is going to take care of two lives and it is something which should be expedited as soon as possible. With 40 million pregnancies happening, we take care of almost 80 million lives."

(with inputs from ANI)

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