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HealthyWomen Launches New Survey Looking at Perceptions of Vaccines During Pregnancy

8 in 10 women say vaccines help protect mother and baby from serious and dangerous diseases, but maternal vaccination rates remain dangerously low

MIDDLETOWN, NJ, USA, December 8, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Summary: While most pregnant women understand the benefits of getting vaccinated and trust their providers, many are not receiving essential vaccines during pregnancy that protect their babies against influenza (flu), tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough (Tdap) and COVID-19.

HealthyWomen, the nation’s leading independent nonprofit health resource for women, is proud to announce the results of a new survey that examined the perceptions of vaccines among women during pregnancy and in their postpartum recovery, as well as those of healthcare providers who make recommendations about vaccines.

“Maternal immunization is safe and effective in protecting the health of both mother and baby,”said Beth Battaglino, RN-C, CEO of HealthyWomen. “Yet, many pregnant women aren’t getting vaccinated. We need to ensure that we understand patients’ concerns, racial and ethnic inequities, and other access barriers. That way, we can provide accurate information and resources that resonate with patients and providers.”

Recent CDC data revealed that receipt of both flu and Tdap vaccines among pregnant women decreased from 30.7% in the 2020-2021 flu season to 22.2% in the 2021-2022 flu season. The survey explores the perceptions of maternal vaccines, including COVID-19, flu and Tdap. Furthermore, the survey collected data on access to prenatal care, barriers to care for patients, providers’ barriers to providing care, trusted sources of information for both patients and providers, and challenges to reporting to state immunization systems — which are particularly important to consider as new maternal vaccines still in development, such as RSV and GBS,
are studied.

In general, pregnant women and new moms were satisfied with the prenatal care they received, but experiences varied by ethnic group.
● Only 46% of Hispanic and 51% of Black women reported having easy access to prenatal care when compared to 67% of non-Hispanic white women.
More pregnant women received or plan to receive the flu and Tdap vaccines in comparison to the COVID-19 vaccine.
● Most respondents understood the benefits of getting vaccinated – such as protecting both mother and baby.
● A majority (eight in 10) said the vaccines help protect the mother and baby from serious and potentially dangerous diseases.
● Safety and side effects of the vaccine were consistently cited as the most common concern of pregnant women.
Most providers who participated in the survey routinely recommended the flu, Tdap and COVID-19 vaccines to their pregnant patients.
● Almost all providers stock and administer the flu (91%) and Tdap (89%) vaccines.
● Significantly fewer providers (60%) stock and administer the COVID-19 vaccine, citing stocking and inventory management as the top reasons for not doing so.
● Providers indicated that they rely on public health agencies and medical associations to gather information and guidance on vaccine recommendations, and close to four in 10 said they need additional information and resources.

“Providers know to talk to their pregnant patients about safe and effective CDC-recommended vaccines,” said L.J Tan, M.S., Ph.D., chief policy and partnerships officer of Immunize.org and co-chair of the National Adult and Influenza Immunization Summit, who reviewed the survey data. “However, systemic barriers like stocking challenges and inventory management, and in some cases payment challenges, can prevent them from distributing vaccines to all eligible patients. If we address those obstacles, it is possible we’ll see an increase in maternal immunization rates.”

This survey expands on themes identified in the white paper, “Improving Maternal Immunization Status: Working Toward Solutions to the Policy, Data, and Implementation Challenges Driving Suboptimal U.S. Maternal Vaccination Rates.” The white paper evaluated barriers driving suboptimal U.S. maternal vaccination rates and potential solutions to help address these obstacles.

More information on our research surrounding maternal immunization can be found on HealthyWomen’s maternal vaccination page.

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About HealthyWomen
HealthyWomen is the nation’s leading independent, nonprofit health information source for women. HealthyWomen.org was the first website to comprehensively address women’s health and wellness issues and continues to educate women to make informed health decisions by providing objective, fact-based information. For more than 30 years, women have turned to HealthyWomen for answers to their most important healthcare questions. To learn more, please visit www.HealthyWomen.org. Follow HealthyWomen on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About the Survey Methodology
The “Perceptions of Vaccines During Pregnancy” survey was sponsored by Pfizer and conducted by Ipsos Knowledge Panel and Survey Healthcare Global. The survey for pregnant people was conducted by Ipsos and based on a nationally representative probability sample of 853 pregnant people and people who are in the postpartum recovery period, ages 19–49. The sample included 574 pregnant people and 279 people within the first year after birth. The data
were weighted to adjust for age, race/ethnicity, education, census region and metropolitan status. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

The provider survey was conducted by Survey Healthcare Global and had a total sample size of 409 eligible healthcare providers routinely providing care for pregnant people. The following percentages represent the reported field of care: Obstetrics and/or Gynecology (51%), Family and General Practice (33%), Pediatrics (14%), Maternal-Fetal Medicine (9%), and Reproductive Endocrinology (8%).

Stefanie Williamson
Healthy Women
+1 631.754.0460
email us here

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