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Women’s rights and breastfeeding organizations are challenging government and NHS guidance that groups say forces mothers to choose between feeding their babies the way they choose and protecting themselves from Covid through vaccination.
The NHS website advises nursing mothers to wait until they have stopped breastfeeding before receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. She adds: “There is no evidence that it is dangerous if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. But more tests are needed before the vaccine can be offered. “
The UK government website repeats the advice, saying it was “of caution until additional evidence is available to support the use of this vaccine in pregnancy and lactation.” No trials of Covid vaccines have been conducted in breastfeeding women.
The orientation could affect hundreds of thousands of women, including some 20,000 frontline workers. Around 46% of mothers in England breastfed babies between 6 and 8 weeks in 2018/19.
Dr. Vicky Thomas of the Hospital Infant Feeding Network (HIFN) said she understood the concerns, but underscored the fact that “there was no evidence that this vaccine was harmful to breastfeeding mothers or their children and the risk appears to be minimal for Many”.
She added: “Denying women the opportunity to be protected or, alternatively, forcing them to lose the health impacts of breastfeeding for themselves and their children is another example of how women have been disproportionately affected by breastfeeding. Covid-19 “.
Dr Hannah Barham Brown, Deputy Leader of the Women’s Equality Party and GP-trainee, said: “The vaccine is our best defense against Covid. To insist without any evidence that certain women should not access it is completely irresponsible, especially since women make up the majority of essential workers in high-risk jobs.
“Unless regulatory bodies reassess their position, women will face an unacceptable choice between stopping breastfeeding or putting themselves and those around them at risk. What breastfeeding mothers need is the right to make an informed choice. “
In the US, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has said that breastfeeding is not a contraindication to receiving the Covid vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration has said that breastfeeding women should discuss the risks and benefits of getting vaccinated with their healthcare provider.
In a letter to UK regulators and Covid vaccine makers last week, HIFN, GP Infant Feeding Network and Breastfeeding for Doctors said: “As groups representing frontline healthcare professionals who are breastfeeding or have interest in supporting breastfeeding, we are extremely concerned about the impact of the ‘very precautionary approach’ that the MHRA [Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency] they have taken.”
There was “a minimal theoretical basis to suspect a risk to a breastfeeding child from Covid-19 mRNA vaccines,” and women should be able to make informed decisions, they added. “Instead, they face being denied the vaccine, forced to stop breastfeeding, or having to lie about their lactation status.”
There had been a “surge of anxiety” from frontline workers who were breastfeeding, and many felt they had been “put in an impossible and discriminatory position due to the UK regulator’s decision”.
Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, said some women who were breastfeeding had already been denied the vaccine. “Women are forced to stop breastfeeding, abandon their careers, or put themselves in serious danger, all because they are not considered a priority by drug companies or regulators.”
