COVID vaccine for breastfeeding moms: No serious side effects seen

When the COVID vaccine was first introduced, one of the primary concerns was if it will be safe for lactating mothers.

If you are a breastfeeding mother and yet unvaccinated, here is some good news for you. Researchers have reported that after being vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna vaccine, breastfeeding moms showed similar side effects to what non-breastfeeding women did. And infants of the breastfeeding mothers also did not exhibit any serious side effects. Though some breastfed infants showed irritability and poor sleep, it was short-lived.

The study was published in the online edition of Breastfeeding Medicine researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

To study the effects of vaccination on breastfeeding moms, the research involved 180 breastfeeding women. More than 85 per cent of the women reported only temporary localised symptoms like pain, swelling and itching at the injection site. After the second dose, women who received the Moderna vaccine were more likely to report symptoms.

A small segment of women also reported reduced milk supply, which appeared to return within 72 hours after the vaccination.

All the side effects of vaccination are short-term. But the effectiveness of the vaccine is incredible in providing protection from COVID-19 infection, which is a devastating and serious illness and can have long term side effects.

This is a green signal for lactating moms to get themselves vaccinated and continue breastfeeding their infants.

Breastfeeding has countless benefits. It provides the baby with an abundance of nutrition and health benefits from a stronger immune system to lower the rate of obesity.

Thus, the study suggests lactating women get vaccinated and continue to breastfeed their infants. They do not need to choose one over the other, as both are critical.

The researchers said that the limitation of the study was the symptoms post-vaccination were self-reported and thus additional studies are suggested to see if these findings are applicable for the generalised population.

The COVID-19 vaccine is recommended for all people above the age of 12 years and older, including pregnant women, breastfeeding moms and women trying to get pregnant.