Flu Vaccine: Stay Out of My Womb!
<- Back to Articles List Flu Vaccine: Stay Out of My Womb! Commentary by Dawn Richardson, President, PROVE (Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education) PROVE P.O. Box 1071 Cedar Park, TX 78630-1071 (512) 918-8760 prove@swbell.net October 8, 1999 Pregnant women everywhere know the feeling of making it to the milestone of their second trimester. For most, queasiness starts to subside, energy returns in spurts, and of course there is that indescribable feeling of becoming aware of your developing baby's movements. You've altered your diet, exercised, stayed away from over the counter medications, your true hair color is revealing itself, and that wonderful bottle of wine with the Surgeon General's warning will continue stay buried in the back of the refrigerator awaiting the skinnier days ahead. You ask yourself, "Is there anything more that I can do for me and my baby during the remainder of my pregnancy?" Well, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the federal government's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) there is - get the flu vaccine before this year's flu season hits. According to the CDC and ACIP, it was estimated that an average of 1 to 2 hospitalizations among pregnant women could be prevented for every 1,000 pregnant women immunized. (Prevention and Control of Influenza: Recommendations of ACIP. MMWR - May 1, 1998; 47)