Had the flu vaccine at 6 weeks, is that safe?

[kylini]

i have gone to the doctor today and asked for his opinion about the flu season and how i should prevent it and he decided to give me a flu shot. I'm only 6 weeks pregnant and i called my OB straight away and he suggested to wait until 2nd trimester. Then i search over the internet and found out a lot of mums who had a flu shots had a autistic child. and also the risk of injecting the preservative Thimerosal which is high in mercury which can cause brain damage.
I'm really really regret of having the flu shot and i can't sleep at night and woke up at 4am and browsing all over again and still can't do anything for myself as i keep asking why i made such a decision of having the flu shot.
i'm soooo worried that i can't eat and very upset.

can someone who have this experience of taking flu vaccine in their first trimester share their experiences? im also very thin and 51kg so not sure if i can take this 'much' amount of Thimerosal into my body which could potentially harm the baby.

[bon]

I don't have any advice for you, except to say please try not to stress too much over this - it is done now, and stress itself is not good for you or your baby. Maybe you could ring your Ob again and see if he can give you some reassurance? I have heard recently that pregnant women are being advised now to have the flu shot because of the concern over swine flu and how it can cause many complications for pregnant women and their babies.

[NaeNae]

I wouldn't worry about it too much hun, its done now. If you go researching stuff like that you are going to make yourself worried sick. While there are a few cases of that happening it doesn't happen to everyone. What you don't see is the large percentage of women who have the shot done early who have perfectly healthy babies.

There are soooooooooooo many things that can happen to a baby while they are developing, so many things to avoid eating etc that its almost ridiculous and to try to prevent anything is almost impossible.

I had mine done at 13 weeks this time but that was only because of the time of year it was. I have it done every year anyway. My Dr and my OB said not too have it but I get really bad bronchitis if I don't and I cannot afford to get sick like that when I am pregnant.

Yes it can possibly cause autism but odds are that your baby will be fine. Try to relax, I am sure you will be fine.

Nae x x

[Life is Good]

So sorry to hear that you have been so stressed about the vaccine. Searching the web regarding that sort of stuff always ends up making you go crazy!

Unfortunately I cannot comment on having the vaccine in your first trimester, but as the others have said, what is done is done and stressing about something that you cannot change is neither good for yourself nor bub. I know it is hard and my thoughts are with you.

As for the flu vac in general, I spent ages researching whether or no to get it and, after consulting numerous doctors, nurses, midwives and other medical professionals they all said the same thing: "It is safe during pregnancy". My OB really encouraged me to get it because getting the flu (and associated fevers) can do a great deal of harm in terms of baby's brain development. At the end of the day, why would so many (and there were a lot) medical professionals say the same thing and risk their reputation?

I hope that hearing my less-dramatic version of what the professionals have to say about the flu vaccine will help ease your mind.

Please take care x

[bon]

There is simply no way of knowing whether having a vaccination during pregnancy can cause Autism -it is a very long bow to draw, and the research is just not there to back it up - especially since Autism is often not diagnosed until the child is older than 2 years of age - so there could be any number of reasons why children are autistic, and it cannot be linked to one single causative factor, especially things that you may or may not have done during pregnancy.