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Women’s rights and breastfeeding organizations are questioning government and NHS guidelines that the groups say require mothers to choose between feeding their infants the way they choose and protecting themselves from Covid by getting vaccinated.
The NHS website advises breastfeeding mothers to wait until they have stopped breastfeeding before receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. He adds, “There is no evidence that it is dangerous if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. But more evidence is needed before we can offer you the vaccine. “
The UK government website reiterates the advice, saying it was “precautionary until further evidence is available to support the use of this vaccine during pregnancy and breastfeeding.” There have been no trials of Covid vaccines on breastfeeding women.
The advice could reach hundreds of thousands of women, including around 20,000 frontline workers. Around 46% of mothers in England were breastfeeding babies aged 6 to 8 weeks in 2018/19.
Dr Vicky Thomas of the Hospital Infant Feeding Network (HIFN) said she understood the concerns, but stressed that there was “no evidence that this vaccine would be harmful to nursing mothers or their children and that the risk seems to many to be minimal ”.
She added: “Denying women the opportunity to be protected or forcing them to lose the health effects of breastfeeding for themselves and their children is another example of how women have been so affected. disproportionate by Covid-19. “
Dr Hannah Barham Brown, Deputy Leader of the Women’s Equality Party and GP trainee, said: “The vaccine is our best defense against Covid. Insisting without any evidence that some women should not access it is utterly irresponsible, especially since women constitute the majority of essential workers in high risk jobs.
“Unless regulatory bodies reassess their position, women will be faced with an unacceptable choice between giving up breastfeeding or putting themselves and those around them at risk. Breastfeeding mothers need the right to make an informed choice. “
In the United States, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has stated that breastfeeding is not a contraindication to Covid vaccination. The Food and Drug Administration has said breastfeeding women should discuss the risks and benefits of being vaccinated with their health care provider.
In a letter to UK regulators and Covid vaccine makers last week, HIFN, the GP Infant Feeding Network and Breastfeeding for Doctors said: “As groups representing frontline healthcare professionals who are breastfeeding or who wish to support lactation, we are extremely concerned. the impact of the “ very cautious approach ” that the MHRA [Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency] took.”
There was “a minimal theoretical basis for suspecting a breastfeeding child at risk from Covid-19 mRNA vaccines,” and women should be able to make informed decisions, they added. “Instead, they risk either being denied the vaccine, being forced to stop breastfeeding, or lying about their breastfeeding status.”
There had been a “wave of anxiety” from frontline breastfeeding workers, many feeling they had been “put in an impossible and discriminatory position because of the UK regulator’s decision”.
Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, said some breastfeeding women have already been denied immunizations. “Women are being forced to give up breastfeeding, give up their careers, or put themselves at risk, all because they are not seen as a priority by drug companies or regulators.”
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