Flu shot anyone?

chelsiea87 · September 2015

How is everyone feeling about the flu shot?

kmalls · September 2015

I'll get it the second my local pharmacy has it.

kbrands7 · September 2015

I get one every October and plan to this year too.

penelope4612 · September 2015

I just got mine today. I made the nurse check to make sure it was thimerosal free, and it was.

ETA: My OB's nurse told me to get it. I called and asked.

finnybooboo · September 2015

I will be getting it when my work offers them.

countrygrl5533 · September 2015

I never get it, even when I was pg with DD. This time will be no different.

BuzzBee614 · September 2015

I got mine already.

To each their own, but my opinion is I have a 15 month old daughter that depends on me...I'm not going to take chances on getting the flu, especially as its more dangerous for pregnant women.

JessicaB0627 · September 2015

Getting mine as soon as they offer it. Having the flu during pregnancy can be extremely dangerous.

sincerelymom · September 2015

(Edited for typos)

My OB strongly recommends it and I will for sure be getting it.

I remember from a psych class that people with schizophrenia had a much higher incidence of mothers who had the flu during pregnancy. Same with bipolar disorder. I don't know, that has really stuck with me and along with the other risks it's just not worth it.

balamama · September 2015

My GP and OB both stressed how important it is and I got mine when it was available a week or so ago. I heard the same thing about risks to the baby for mothers who got the flu early in pregnancy.

dsmith211 · September 2015

My work has a free wellness fair twice a year and they offer them then. I'll be getting mine there most likely... If not then I'll just go down to my pharmacy.

Pepper6 · September 2015

I'll probably get one in the next few weeks.

Also getting the tdap (whooping cough) again around 36 weeks which is recommended for every pregnancy.

lalala2004 · September 2015

My OB said they'll have the preservative free kind and I'll get one on my next visit.

skiingstark · September 2015

I got mine this weekend at Walgreens. I got the preservative free one.

Mysticalwine13 · September 2015

Getting it in 2 weeks at work. Made an appt to get my 2yo the flu shot this week too.

Dannielle87 · September 2015

In the hospital I work at it's mandatory for all staff to get the flu shot. They start offering it in Oct, so I'll get it then.

dayslikethisone · September 2015

I will get it for the protection of myself, my baby, and my patients.

nerdymama15 · September 2015

I'm torn. I do not like vaccines (in the sense of I don't like getting ones that I have never had before. I'm okay with the ones I have already had before). I'm paranoid over stuff like that. I am also paranoid over new medicines and stuff anytime I have go to the doctor. That is just me in general. I tend to be allergic to a lot of stuff so I'm highly cautious about new things.

I have NEVER ever had a flu shot in my entire life. I have only had the flu twice in my life. Once in elementary school and then once in 2007. In 2007 I was hospitalized with the flu and a sinus infection and had to stay in the hospital for three days due to a high fever that just would not break and kept rising. That was the last time I had the flu.

I work from home so my contact with people is limited to grocery store outings and doctor appts and stuff like that.

So I am kind of torn. I'm not sure what I will do.

Unknown · September 2015

This content has been removed.

MrsCaseyK · September 2015

It has never been tested for saftey in pregnancy in a double blind study according to my ob and my research. I will not be getting it.

KKMalinowski · September 2015

I will be getting it when work offers it.

mariaalene · September 2015

I will not be getting it. It's always get it get it get it then you here on the news "this years strain is immune to the vaccine" so you get the flu anyways.

Last year I went to the ER at 28 weeks pregnant with contractions, leaking fluid, bleeding, fever, vomiting. They asked if I had a flu shot. I said no. They said oh then you have the flu. They gave me the shot and were about to send me home. I said "flu? Is that why I'm bleeding?" She said "you're not bleeding" I reached down and grabbed a handful of blood from down there. She says "oh um let me grab the dr". At that point they decided to check the baby. There was no fluid left. Turns out I didn't have the flu, I was in labor and had my baby 3 hrs later. They were so eager to brush it off as the flu since I was one of those ppl that didn't get the flu shot.

lnsjes · September 2015

My OB office strongly recommends getting the flu shot. I just received mine yesterday. I work as a nurse and I am exposed to many people who have the flu. Just remember to not get the nose spray flu vaccine as this has some live virus in it

Buninthe0ven815 · September 2015

My OB office recommends it as well. I'm scheduled to receive one at my first visit in a few weeks.

mlbohannon1120 · September 2015

I also work at a hospital, so it is required for staff and I support that entirely. We have the only level one trauma center for pediatrics in my state as well as a major cancer center. There are several immuno-compromised patients that I could potentially come into contact with, so I think it is better to be safe than sorry. As soon as they start offering flu shots, I'll be in line!

yogahh · September 2015

I've never had the shot but def getting it this year. Anything for the babes
My dr appt isn't for another month. Does anyone know if I need to get it ok'd first by my dr or can I just get it? I was planning on calling the office to ask but preggo brain over here keeps forgetting.

lalala2004 · September 2015

yogahh said:
I've never had the shot but def getting it this year. Anything for the babes
My dr appt isn't for another month. Does anyone know if I need to get it ok'd first by my dr or can I just get it? I was planning on calling the office to ask but preggo brain over here keeps forgetting.

Just make sure you tell the pharmacist or whoever is doing it that you're pregnant. And try to check and see if they have the preservative free one. Someone mentioned Walgreen's recommends that for pregnant women and my OB said that is the one they give as well.

skiingstark · September 2015

MrsCaseyK said:

It has never been tested for saftey in pregnancy in a double blind study according to my ob and my research. I will not be getting it.

The problem is there are other studies that show getting the flu while pregnant have many bad effects. This is my thinking, one option they are not sure if it is a risk to a pregnant lady (vaccine) and the other they know for sure it is a risk (getting the flu), so I will take the flu shot. I am also at high risk since I am a middle school teacher and I must hand shake every student who enters my class, so we pass the flu like candy at my school.

https://www.marchofdimes.org/complications/influenza-and-pregnancy.aspx

kmalls · September 2015

For everyone who does NOT want the flu shot, please consider the fact that your baby can't receive the flu vaccination until they are at least 6 months old. For a May baby, that means at least November, if not December, and that is well into flu season.

When a mother receives the flu vaccination while pregnant, the antibodies are passed to the baby and provides at least minimal protection during the time baby is too young to get a vaccination themselves.

The Mayo Clinic has a brief article outlining this and other benefits (which sources the Centers for Disease Control):
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/expert-answers/influenza/faq-20058522

autumnlynne1221 · September 2015

I'm required by my employer to get the flu shot so I'll receive it around October. I just wish the percentage rate of effectiveness was higher. Last years was almost completely ineffective due to rapid mutation and I've heard this years is not going to be much better. But I guess any protection I can get is better than nothing.

penelope4612 · September 2015

The flu shot is pregnancy category B, as are many of the medications that OBs recommend during pregnancy. Yes, that does mean that there haven't been any research studies, but it's really not ethical to give a bunch of pregnant women a placebo vaccine when you know that the flu shot has a better chance of preventing the flu. It's unlikely an IRB is going to approve a double blind study, so it probably will never be done.

ETA: the quardravalent preservative free shot was what I got and the package instructions said it was pregnancy category B. I don't know if they all are. I'm sure the live vaccine isn't.

nsouplynn · September 2015

My DD didn't get her first flu shot when she was almost 3. It was right around the time I went back to work and she started daycare. I made the choice to get her flu shot. Before the two weeks her flu shot would be effective, I had to rush her to the ER and it turned out she had the flu. Because of that and not wanting to go through that again, we get our flu shot every year.

JessicaB0627 · September 2015

penelope4612 said:
The flu shot is pregnancy category B, as are many of the medications that OBs recommend during pregnancy. Yes, that does mean that there haven't been any research studies, but it's really not ethical to give a bunch of pregnant women a placebo vaccine when you know that the flu shot has a better chance of preventing the flu. It's unlikely an IRB is going to approve a double blind study, so it probably will never be done.

ETA: the quardravalent preservative free shot was what I got and the package instructions said it was pregnancy category B. I don't know if they all are. I'm sure the live vaccine isn't.

This! They can't potentially put pregnant women at more risk in order to do a study when there have been no indications of the flu vaccine being harmful before.

If you are choosing to not get the vaccine, at least educate yourself on all of the effects getting the flu can have on your vulnerable growing baby.

missnc77 · September 2015

I used to never get flu vaccines, until I caught the flu traveling over Thanksgiving. I was 23 and in graduate school, and the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was all about papers and finals. I had never felt so awful. It took me one week of trembling in bed feeling like death, another week of feeling like I had the worst cold of my life, then another two weeks where it slowly lingered. I get flu vaccines every year now.

Even though I'm nervous to do anything medicinal or vaccine related during pregnancy, if I felt like that as a healthy 23 year old, I don't even want to know what I'd feel like as a pregnant 32 year old. Plus, we're doing air travel for Thanksgiving this year, and that's prime time for getting sick. Enclosed in a small airplane with hundreds of people who wouldn't let being sick stop them from holiday travel. I'm going to be the OCD lady on the airplane wiping everything down with antibacterial wipes. :-S

JoyTap · September 2015

I'll be getting it when it's offered by my work next month. It's highly recommended for all pregnant women because the risk to baby is WAY higher if you get the flu then if you get the flu shot. Especially in the first trimester when a high fever could do serious damage.

allen4tl · September 2015

I have never gotten the flu shot and I have never had the flu. However, I WILL be getting a flu shot when my OB offers it now that I am pregnant. I just feel like it is the responsible thing to do.

Spylon · September 2015

I work for a family health team and we share the building with 7 doctors, so I'm surrounded by sick people and vulnerable children. I will be getting my flu shot the second our nurse is offering it.

emma+karen · September 2015

With my first pregnancy, I got it straight from my OB. We've since moved, so I have a new doctor, but will be asking if I can get in the office there. If not I will most definitely be getting it at a local pharmacy. I work at a school where kids bring in all sorts of germs on a daily basis, so I want all the protection I can get.

sincerelymom · September 2015

Question for those getting the shot. I am supposed to get mine at work on Tuesday. I have never gotten a flu shot and my OB told me to make absolutely sure that it was the kind without preservatives. My company just brings in a healthcare company to do them for free. If I go to my appointment and ask them about the preservatives... Should they know/be able to tell me? I'm debating whether I should just get the shot at my OB office (and pay for it) since I know the one they use is safe. I'm a little paranoid they will tell me it's fine when it isn't.

penelope4612 · September 2015

sincerelymom said:

Question for those getting the shot. I am supposed to get mine at work on Tuesday. I have never gotten a flu shot and my OB told me to make absolutely sure that it was the kind without preservatives. My company just brings in a healthcare company to do them for free. If I go to my appointment and ask them about the preservatives... Should they know/be able to tell me? I'm debating whether I should just get the shot at my OB office (and pay for it) since I know the one they use is safe. I'm a little paranoid they will tell me it's fine when it isn't.

Yes they should be able to tell you. The vaccine comes in boxes and each box has a paper that lists the ingredients. They should be able to look at that paper and show you the line where it says preservative free. The nurse at my job did this for me.

Bookhousegirl · September 2015

I never used to get the flu shot, but ever since my pregnancy with DS I have gotten it every year. My reasons have all be said by PP's and plus, there's no way I can handle the flu and an 18 month old!

Want a personalized experience?

Flu shot anyone?

Re: Flu shot anyone?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards