Pregnant women urged to get COVID-19 vaccine by CDC, OBGYN doctors

A Phoenix OBGYN says he hopes pregnant women do what's right for them and their babies by getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

PHOENIX - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now urging all expectant mothers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible.

The recommendation comes as hospitals around the country are seeing a growing number of unvaccinated pregnant women falling seriously ill with the virus.

Vaccination rates are low among expecting mothers with only about 23% having received at least one dose, according to CDC data.

A Valley doctor says he hopes with the latest studies pregnant women will feel more confident in getting vaccinated as many expecting mothers are still asking themselves if it’s safe to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Maybe about 75% of my patients that I ask about getting it, give me a response like, ‘I’m not sure' or ‘I’m going to wait,’" said Phoenix OBGYN Dr. Steve Plimpton.

The CDC says around 105,000 pregnant women in the US have been infected with COVID-19. About 18,000 have been hospitalized with around a fourth of them receiving intensive care.

More than 120 have died.

"Unfortunately with the delta variant rising through the world, we’re seeing that population being very susceptible to that. Not more so because it’s the delta variant, but because pregnant ladies are more likely to get COVID-19 than the general population," Plimpton said.

Now that the CDC is urging pregnant women to get vaccinated, Plimpton says he hopes they do what’s right for them and their babies.

"All the studies that have been done now show there are no worries, no increase in miscarriages, no problems with menstrual cycles, no problems with fertility at any stage for the young ladies trying to get pregnant or who are already pregnant," he explained.

Gladys Hinojos is 38 weeks pregnant and she says her concerns about the virus have been growing and now has decided to get her shot.

"They said it’s getting worse and me thinking about if I could get the shot too and it wouldn’t affect the baby that was my main concern, so I asked the doctor right now and he said it was OK," she said.

Knowing it’s OK to get vaccinated has brought her relief, saying, "I’m walking out of here to get it right away because it’s just next week when I’m getting induced so I want to have it before."

Learn more about the CDC's recommendation here https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html