From data of over 100, 000 women vaccinated all over the world (and counting), there is no suggestion that the vaccine affects fertility. In fact the British Fertility Society has released a statement suggesting that it does not affect any stage of IVF cycle or interacts with any IVF medications either. Sometimes due to common side effects of the vaccine, like fever or body ache, the IVF doctors may defer IVF procedures for a day or two, but otherwise there is no suggestion that you should alter having an IVF due to the vaccine.

Studies from USA, and in UK / Europe have compared chance of miscarriage with vaccinated and unvaccinated group and have found no difference in miscarriage rates. Therefore, it can be accepted that the COVID vaccine does not increase the chance of miscarriage. 

Depending on the kind of vaccine you may have upto 85-90% immunity with two doses, but with passing of time the immune response that the body has generated to the vaccine goes down. It is difficult to quantify “how much” are you protected six months post vaccination. Therefore booster doses should be opted for as recommended nationally. Booster vaccines can be given 3 months (91 days) after your 2nd dose. We strongly encourage all pregnant women to have the COVID-19 booster vaccination as it provides the best protection against the virus for you and your baby.

Research from 13 studies in five countries, involving more than 100,000 people vaccinated in pregnancy, shows having the vaccine does not increase the risk of miscarriage, preterm birth or stillbirth, or increase the chance of having a small-for-gestational age baby, or the chance of congenital anomalies in the baby.

The vaccines that are unsafe in pregnancy are live vaccines. The usual vaccines given in pregnancy are Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. These are m-RNA vaccines (not live vaccines) and quickly broken down in the body within a few days of injection. As these are new vaccines, there are no studies yet on the long-term effects on babies born to women who had a COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy. But as COVID-19 vaccines are not ‘live’ vaccines they cannot cause infection, and other non-live vaccines have been given to women in pregnancy for many years without any safety concerns – these include the flu vaccine and also the whooping cough jab.

The vaccines provide “passive immunity” to the baby – which means that the protective antibodies developed from vaccination can transfer from mother to baby across the placenta, and after birth through breast milk, helping with the baby’s immunity to COVID-19. The degree of protection this provides to the baby is unknown at present and more research is needed.

See Answer above.

See Answer above.

Current evidence from the UK suggests that pregnant women are no more likely to get COVID-19 than other healthy adults, but if they are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, they are at increased risk of becoming severely unwell if they catch COVID-19, which can lead to admission to intensive care and premature birth of the baby.

From UK (UKOSS) and international registry data, we know that mothers who are at high risk of pregnancy complications ie – those with additional risk factors are at a higher risk of the complications of COVID in pregnancy. These include women aged over 35,  with BMI over 30 or higher, with preexisting medical problems such as raised blood pressure (hypertension), asthma or diabetes and women of non-white ethnicity. A UK based study on admissions with COVID, nearly 98% of women who were admitted in intensive care were unvaccinated and nearly 80% of those admitted with symptoms of COVID were in third trimester.

In pregnant women with symptoms of COVID-19, it is twice as likely that their baby will be born early, exposing the baby to the risk of prematurity.  Several international studies have also found that pregnant women who tested positive for COVID-19 at the time of birth were more likely to develop pre-eclampsia, more likely to need an emergency caesarean and their risk of stillbirth was twice as high, although the actual number of stillbirths remains low.

There are no separate data on women with twins and triplets and risks of COVID. However many mothers with twins and triplet pregnancies have risk factors (as above) that puts them at a higher risk of complications due to COVID in pregnancy. In addition, the chance of premature labour is higher in twins and triplet / higher order multiple pregnancy. It can therefore be extrapolated that mothers with twins or triplet pregnancies who become unwell with COVID would have a higher chance of preterm delivery and its subsequent complications.

It is however worth mentioning that roughly two-thirds of pregnant women with COVID-19 have no symptoms at all (also known as being asymptomatic). Most pregnant women who do have symptoms only have mild cold or flu-like symptoms.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwifery have developed a decision aid to empower women to make an informed choice for COVID vaccination and pregnancy. The health care professionals should have an unbiased opinion and give you contemporaneous guidance on vaccination in pregnancy. It is within your right to ask questions about information that is not in sync with the available guidance. You can defer to the available resources (see below), and ask to have a chat with your Obstetricians , lead midwife, or local vaccination centre.

https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/coronavirus-covid-19-pregnancy-and-womens-health/covid-19-vaccines-and-pregnancy/covid-19-vaccines-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding/

https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/2021-02-24-combined-info-sheet-and-decision-aid.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1024223/UKHSA_12073_COVID-19_pregnancy_poster.pdf

See answer above on the booster.

Pregnant women are offered Pfizer and Moderna vaccines as the data on safety in pregnancy and breastfeeding is the largest for these groups. Both have good effectiveness in protecting against COVID. The vaccine that is no given in pregnancy is Astra Zeneca, and this is because of the reports small increase in the chance of clots forming in the blood vessels with this vaccine, as the risk of clots in blood vessels is increased in pregnancy as such.    

Breastfeeding has exceptional benefits for the health, wellbeing, and immunity for the baby as well as aids psychological wellbeing and bonding in the mother. The protective antibodies developed from vaccination can transfer from mother to baby through breast milk, helping with the baby’s immunity to COVID-19. The degree of protection this provides to the baby is unknown at present and more research is needed. COVID-19 vaccines are strongly recommended to breastfeeding women. There is no plausible mechanism by which any vaccine ingredient could pass to your baby through breast milk. You should therefore not stop breastfeeding in order to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

See Answer above.