Pregnant women whose doctors recommended the H1N1 swine flu vaccine were almost seven times more likely to get the shot than those whose doctors didn t recommend it,according to a survey of 300 women at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del. An aggressive pro-vaccine campaign at the hospital resulted in 62 percent of admitted pregnant women getting shots, researcher Marci Drees, M.D., told reporters at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
This is very important, and it s an opportunity to make a difference in people s lives, says Dr. Ross. The data in this study clearly show that a simple doctor s recommendation makes a world of difference. That s exactly what doctors are supposed to do.
Pregnant women can be very resistant to vaccines because they think they have to protect their baby but both pregnant women and newborns are at heightened vulnerability to the effects of influenza, says Dr. Whelan. In fact a study recently found pregnant mothers that get vaccinated can pass on partial immunity to their unborn children.
