INDIANAPOLIS — We know COVID-19 can have extremely bad outcomes for certain groups of people.
But among diabetes, heart disease and lung disease, there is another risk factor that sometimes gets overlooked.
“We’re seeing them more often with severe forms of the disease with requiring hospitalizations, respiratory failure on ventilators and unfortunately higher rates of death during pregnancy,” said Dr. Adrienne Rasbach, an OB/GYN at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital.
Rasbach said lately one of the questions she’s been getting more from her patients is about whether they should consider getting the vaccine if it’s available.
But right now, there just isn’t a lot of concrete information.
“The reality of this vaccine is there were no pregnant women that were studied during Phase 2 or 3 clinical trials,” said Rasbach.
However, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued recommendations that the COVID vaccine is made available to pregnant women.
Rasbach said she talks about choices individually with her patients but has had patients get vaccinated that are currently medical providers.
“When you look at the science behind this vaccine, there is really a lot that points in the direction that this is going to be a recommended vaccine in pregnancy,” she said.
It is currently still unclear when the vaccine will be made available to wider groups of pregnant individuals.