Eleven days ago, a little baby girl named, Emma, made Dr. Leslie Kim, a mom.
“We’re really excited to have her,” Dr. Kim said.
Kim is a plastic surgeon at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Her husband is also a physician. She said being pregnant in a pandemic was both “exciting” and “scary.”
As a plastic surgeon her profession allowed her to receive the vaccine if she wanted it. She was in a position many pregnant women are in now – ‘wondering, is it safe?’
Pregnant women living in Ohio are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. While the CDC, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine say the vaccine should be offered to pregnant and nursing moms, the data is remains limited. Pfizer and BioNTech launched its vaccine safety clinical trial of pregnant women last month.
“That definitely brought a lot of doubt in my mind initially, and it wasn’t an easy decision, “ said Dr. Kim.
So, Dr. Kim started having conversations about it with her doctor.
“We spoke a lot about, you know it’s a personal choice. About my personal risks and benefits,” she said. “It was actually a no brainer for me. I was going to go ahead and get the vaccine and my OB/GYN supported it and was in favor of it my family was in favor of it.”
Dr. Kim decided to get the vaccine. She was 36 weeks pregnant by the time she received her second dose of the Moderna vaccine. She felt flu-like symptoms for 24 hours afterwards. Other than that, she experienced no other reactions or side effects.
Roughly a month later, her little girl arrived. Now as a new mom, she is hoping the shots she got also provided some protection for her baby. Experts say there is early indication to show that’s possible, as is the case with other vaccines.
“We do believe that any immunity that a mom creates with the vaccine is going to be spread to the baby,” said Dr. Michael Cackovic, Associate professor of Maternal fetal medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
Dr. Cackovich also said the vaccine is “very safe in pregnancy.”
When asked if it matters how along a mother is in her pregnancy, Dr. Cackovich said he doesn’t believe it does matter.
“But, there are certain parts of pregnancy that are milestones. You know that first trimester,” he said. “I think once you have a documented pregnancy and you know it’s going to be a good pregnancy I think there’s certainly a piece of confidence that goes with that.”