Pregnant Women & Flu Shots

It's flu shot time again. But what if you're pregnant, is it safe for you and the baby?

In a nutshell, the answer is yes. Every year we roll up our sleeves to get the flu vaccine. We have to get a different one each year because the flu virus is smart enough to change just a bit each year, making the last shot you got ineffective.
But the question I often get in my clinic is "I'm pregnant, should I still get the shot". The government has said definitely yes over the past few years but just undertook an even bigger study than before to give us all a little more peace of mind. After looking at flu shots in pregnant women and complications over the last twenty years, researchers found no more complications than everyone else had. The most common ones were skin reactions at the injection site, slight fevers and fatigue.

But health groups do recommend only the vaccine and not the nasal spray for pregnant women. And they are recommending the shot again this year, especially since expecting moms are more likely to become seriously ill and hospitalized if they come down with the flu, especially the H1N1 "Swine flu".