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- A Facebook post allegedly claimed that the coronavirus vaccine caused a miscarriage of OB-GYN.
- But the doctor suffered the loss before receiving the vaccine, according to his Instagram posts.
- Based on how it is made and the data to date, scientists say the vaccine is likely to be safe during pregnancy.
- Visit Insider’s Business section for more stories.
When Dr. Michelle Rockwell woke up on Sunday morning, just months after experiencing pregnancy loss, she said she saw her photos pasted on social media claiming her miscarriage was caused by a COVID-19 vaccine .
Rockwell captured the circulating message, which no longer appears to be visible.
Previously, Rockwell, an OB-GYN in Tulsa, posted an article about her pregnancy loss on her account, @DoctorMommyMD, which has over 26,000 subscribers. By the way, she had posted about her vaccination.
But the anti-vaxx post baselessly linked the two, despite Rockwell having suffered the miscarriage. before she received the vaccine, she wrote in a Monday post dealing with the incident and the misinformation on the internet more generally.
“As someone is soulless and predatory to take someone’s grief and change it to advance their own agenda,” she said. “Misinformation spreads so quickly because people don’t stop and think before they hit the share button.”
Insider explained to doctors why the coronavirus vaccine is unlikely to increase the risk of miscarriage or other complications during pregnancy.
Rockwell published an article about her miscarriage on December 1 and her vaccine on December 21
“We lost our sweet baby,” Rockwell, who has two children, wrote on Instagram on Dec. 1. On December 21, she posted a selfie while getting her coronavirus vaccine. Rockwell re-posted about her miscarriage on Jan. 14, sharing a photo from before she underwent D&C, a procedure to remove pregnancy tissue.
“After he left, the little baby clothes that I bought with enthusiasm still arrived home,” Rockwell wrote on Jan. 14. “I put them away quietly. My heart is still so broken, but I found a strength in me that I didn’t know existed. ”
Whoever shot the Rockwell photos overlooked this timeline.
“If someone went to my IG and scrolled through my messages, they would see that I had a miscarriage 3 weeks before I got the vaccine,” Rockwell wrote on Monday. “I had my D&C 2 days after the vaccine, but my adorable baby was gone long before that.
She used the experience to remind subscribers to be smart about information consumption and proliferation. She urged them to check if the information is correct, consider the source, take into account who is posting, consider if something is too good to be true, and keep in mind how what you share affects people. other.
“Remember there is a human on the other side of the screen,” she wrote. “Who has feelings. Who feels sorrow.”
Based on how it works, the vaccine is believed to be safe in pregnant women.
Researchers continue to collect data on the vaccine’s potential risks to pregnant women, although health and public health professionals expect them to be low.
“Based on how the COVID vaccine works, there should be very little risk to a developing baby,” pediatrician and neonatologist Dr. Jessica Madden, who is also the medical director of Aeroflow Breastpumps, previously told Insider. This is because, like the flu vaccine, coronavirus vaccines do not contain live virus.
“The mRNA from the vaccine works locally, in the muscle cells surrounding the injection site,” she said. “It cannot enter the nucleus of cells, so it has no effect on DNA.” It also does not enter the placenta or directly interact with the fetus.
“There is no vertical transmission,” or mother-to-baby transmission of the virus or vaccine, Dr. Jessica Shepherd told OB-GYN.
And, because the vaccine prompts the body to produce antibodies very similar to natural antibodies produced in response to infection, if they attacked the placenta, as another anti-vaccine Facebook post claimed in December, we would see rates high complications and miscarriages. of the more than 44,000 pregnant women who have had COVID-19, Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale School of Medicine, told USA TODAY.
But in fact, Shepherd told Insider, studies have shown that pregnant women with COVID-19 aren’t much more likely to experience pregnancy loss than those without the disease.
Evidence gathered so far shows ‘no red flags’ regarding vaccination during pregnancy
The few women who became pregnant while enrolled in vaccine clinical trials reported no complications, and limited data from animal studies showed no harm during pregnancy.
Of the more than 100,000 pregnant women who have already been vaccinated, “there have been no red flags” regarding their safety so far, infectious disease specialist Dr Anthony Fauci said at the meeting. ‘a talk at the New York Press Club in January.
Although the vaccine can cause a fever as a side effect, which can be problematic for the developing fetus early in pregnancy, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says it can be treated with Tylenol, which is safe during pregnancy and does not. It does not appear to affect how vaccines work.
Pregnant women are at higher risk of complications from COVID-19
If infected, pregnant women have a higher risk of ICU admission, ventilation, life support, and even death than patients who are not pregnant, although the overall risk is still low, a November report from the Centers for Disease Control Prevention found. They are also more likely to give birth prematurely.
Pregnant women of color are particularly at risk of contracting the disease and experiencing related complications.
Their increased risk of complications is why the American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends that pregnant women and those planning to become pregnant get the vaccine.
Other organizations leave the decision to the woman. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says “vaccines should not be denied to pregnant women” in priority groups, and the CDC and the World Health Organization say eligible pregnant women “may choose to be. vaccinate “.
Shepherd said undecided women who are pregnant or trying to start a family should talk to their OB-GYNs about the pros and cons for them. “This is definitely something that can cause a lot of concern for a person who is or is considering becoming pregnant, so the best thing you can do is rely on your OB-GYN to get these facts and not use the internet.” , she said. .
Factors such as rates of transmission in the community, your own risk of serious illness from COVID-19, occupation and pregnancy complications should play into your decision, experts say.
Whatever you choose, “you should feel like your decision is being honored,” Madden said, “and know that if you choose not to get the vaccine now, or in the future, that’s okay. . “
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