A new study in Australia suggests that pregnant women who receive a flu shot are more likely to not experience stillbirth. This research started making rounds online on April 18.
The Globe And Mail wrote that stillbirth might be prevented if an expecting mother has taken a seasonal flu shot. Scientists sampled around 53,000 pregnant women who didn't receive the said vaccine and another 5,100 who did. Results showed that women who underwent inoculation during pregnancy have a 51 percent chance of being spared from stillbirth.
A photo posted by @danixcalifornia on Apr 20, 2016 at 4:16pm PDT
According to Babycentre.com, stillbirth means the birth of a child who died inside the mother's womb after surviving 24 weeks. It could be due to late pregnancy, also known as intrauterine death. Stillbirth could also occur while the mother was going through labor known as intrapartum death. This type of birth is not common on the other hand it is not exactly rare. One in every 200 experience stillbirth in the United Kingdom alone.
With the help of flu vaccines, that number has decreased that scientists noted just 6.5 were stillborn out of 1000 births. In an email sent by the lead author of this study, Annette Regan, she strongly advised pregnant women to have those flu shots. This could ease their mind knowing that their baby would be safe and alive. There were rumors about flu vaccines causing more risk to unborn babies, which is something that expecting mothers should no longer believe after this study has been published.
Researchers didn't indicate how flu shots could prevent stillbirths, as they still have no idea about it. They just said that since flu during pregnancy is linked to stillborn babies, chances are high that flu vaccines could lower the risk of infection brought by flu to mothers.
Do you think vaccines could really help solve stillbirths or do you think it could just cause other complications? Share us your thoughts in the comments section below.
