Getting Vaccinated While Pregnant Can Help Pass on Antibodies to Newborns

• Research has shown that pregnant people have a greater risk of developing severe illness and complications from COVID-19, compared with nonpregnant people.
• A new study found another benefit of getting vaccinated: Newborns are born with a high level of antibodies.
• Experts are urging pregnant people to get vaccinated to safeguard their health amid the spread of the Delta variant.

Since the vaccines became available in December 2020, physicians have strongly encouraged pregnant people to get immunized against COVID-19 to protect not only themselves, but their newborns as well.

Research has shown that pregnant people have a greater risk of developing severe illness and complications from COVID-19, compared with nonpregnant people.

Pregnant people who are unvaccinated are also more likely to experience pre-term birth and have worse birth outcomes, compared with pregnant people who have been vaccinated.

A new study from researchers at New York University (NYU) found another benefit of getting vaccinated: Newborns whose mothers had received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine had high levels of antibodies.

The findings come just as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted for pregnant people to be eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster shot.

The number of pregnant people with COVID-19 has increased in recent weeks, due to low vaccination rates among pregnant people and increased spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

“The best news is when a pregnant woman gets vaccinated, the newborn has protective antibodies against COVID. Getting the COVID vaccine is a win-win for mother and baby,” Dr. Sheryl Ross, an OB-GYN at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, told Healthline.