May 2021 |

Based on the latest scientific insights, the guideline on COVID-19 vaccination around pregnancy and childbirth has been amended. The changes concern the vaccination of pregnant women. The guideline has been developed by the multidisciplinary COVID-19 & Pregnancy working group of the Dutch Association for Obstetrics and Gynecology (NVOG).

Although the overall risk from COVID-19 disease in pregnant women and their new babies is low, in later pregnancy some women may become seriously unwell and need hospital treatment.

Pregnant women with COVID-19 have a higher risk of intensive care admission than women of the same age who are not pregnant. Women with COVID-19 disease are also 2 to 3 times more likely to have their babies early than women without COVID-19.

For safety reasons, the advice to vaccinate pregnant women previously was only applied to vulnerable pregnant women with serious conditions.

Serious underlying medical conditions such as:

Other increasing risk factors are if you are:

e now know that 90,000 pregnant women in the United States have now been vaccinated with one of the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer or Moderna) without significant side effects. From now on, the advise to all pregnant women is to be vaccinated, preferably with an mRNA vaccine. In the guideline it is also stated that there are no objections to vaccination in women who are breastfeeding, because it is plausible that the vaccines will not end up in breast milk. Click here if you want to read the guideline [in Dutch]. The UK guidline for Covid in pregnancy, in English, can be read here.

Unfortunately, pregnant women are not yet given priority in the vaccination in the Netherlands. Entire working groups are working hard to arrange this as soon as possible, but at this moment it is not yet possible to get your vaccination faster. We will inform you as soon as this changes!

You may hear around you that some pregnant women have received a vaccination call. These calls are therefore not yet due to the pregnancy but due to another risk factor, such as asthma, which the pregnant woman also has.

Because the call for vaccination will probably be arranged through the general practitioners / housedocters, it is important that your GP is informed about your pregnancy! Our advice is therefore to email your doctor and inform them of your pregnancy and your (presumed) due date.

We hope you all remain in good health. If you have doubts about your health, always call your midwife from your team, 24/7, at: Team Femme 0207231751 ór Team Amsterdam 0207231752.

If you want to reschedule your appointment due to quarantine obligation or for another reason, call 0207231757 and make a callback appointment via option 7, then option 3 and latest option 2.

We very much hope that you will soon have the opportunity to get yourself vaccinated. We respect of course everyone’s choice in this decision whether or not to have this done in your pregnancy.

Furthermore, we are pleased that more and more relaxations of the regulations are coming and we hope that the downward trend will continue so that we can return to normal soon.

Know that we are there for you,

Warm regards on behalf of our entire Femme-team