Medical Matters Weekly Welcomes Alya Reeve, MD, MPH, of UCS
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Medical Matters Weekly Welcomes Alya Reeve, MD, MPH, of UCS

BENNINGTON, VT—July 28, 2021—Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) Medical Matters Weekly with Dr. Trey Dobson—a weekly interactive, multiplatform medical-themed talk show—will feature Alya Reeve, MD, MPH, the medical director of United Counseling Service (UCS) in Bennington, on its August 4 program.

The show is produced with cooperation from Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV). Viewers can see Medical Matters Weekly on Facebook at facebook.com/svmedicalcenter and facebook.com/CATTVBenningtonThe show is also available to view or download a podcast on www.svhealthcare.org/medicalmatters.

Dr. Reeve is responsible for overseeing clinical psychiatric services and providing guidance to clinical staff. She assures that agency patients receive appropriate evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, medical screening, and medical or psychiatric evaluation. In addition, she serves as the liaison for UCS with community physicians, hospital staff, and other professionals and agencies associated with psychiatric services.

Dr. Reeve has served in multiple professional and academic roles at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Pediatrics. Dr. Reeve earned her medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, with residencies in psychiatry at the Dartmouth School of Medicine and the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She also spent time as the registrar in the Epilepsy Unit at the Institute of Psychiatry and Maudsley Hospital in London, UK. Dr. Reeve was a fellow in the clinical brain disorders branch at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Washington, D.C. She earned her master’s in public health at the University of New Mexico and a bachelor’s degree in French and Zoology from Connecticut College.

After the program, the video will be available on area public access television stations. On CAT-TV, viewers will find the show on channel 1075 at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 1:30 p.m. Monday, 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 a.m. Friday, and 7 p.m. Saturday. GNAT-TV's Comcast channel 1074 airs the program at 8 a.m. Monday, 9 p.m. Wednesday, and 1 p.m. Saturday.

Upcoming guests include:

  • 12 p.m. Wednesday, August 11: Art Groux, executive director of the Bennington Rescue Squad, will discuss the Rescue Squad and its work in our community.
  • 12 p.m. Wednesday, August 18: Patricia Johnson, RN, and Caitlin Tilley, RN, of SVMC, will discuss their efforts to make vaccines available to the BIPOC community in Bennington and the surrounding area.
  • 12 p.m. Wednesday, August 25: Tim VanOrden, athlete and coach, will share his ideas for increasing activity and health in your life.
  • 12 p.m. Wednesday, September 1: Cath Burns of Vermont Care Partners, will discuss COVID Support Programs.

To contribute questions in advance of each week’s show, please e-mail wellness@svhealthcare.org or post to Facebook with #SVHCMedicalMattersWeekly.
 
About SVHC Medical Matters Weekly:
Medical Matters Weekly is an interactive, multiplatform guest-driven talk show hosted by Dr. Trey Dobson. It provides a behind-the-scenes perspective on health care, including topics like behavioral health, food insecurity, equitable care, and the opioid crisis. The show is produced in partnership with Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV) and is broadcast on CAT-TV, Greater Northshire Access Television, Facebook Live, YouTube, and podcast platforms. 
 
About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, healthcare system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.
 
SVMC has earned several prominent distinctions. Most recently, SVMC received the American Hospital Association’s Rural Healthcare Leadership Award for transformational change in efforts toward healthcare reform and its fifth consecutive designation within the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®. It ranked fourth in the nation for healthcare value by the Lown Institute Hospitals Index in 2020 and is one of Vermont’s Best Places to Work. SVMC earned an ‘A’ for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group for two years in a row. During the pandemic, SVMC and both its skilled nursing facilities, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation in Bennington, and the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation at Hoosick Falls, earned perfect scores on a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services evaluation meant to determine the ability to prevent transmission of COVID-19 and other infections.
 
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.

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COVID-19 Vaccine for Those Pregnant or Nursing

Here are the facts you need to know to make a good decision about whether or not to recieve the COVID-19 vaccine: 

  • During the COVID-19 pandemic we found out that pregnant women with COVID-19 disease are more likely to get a very severe infection.  According to the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine, they are three times more likely to have to go to an intensive care unit, two to three times more likely to need advanced life support and a breathing tube, and sadly, they have a small increased risk of death due to COVID-19. They may have worse pregnancy outcomes, such as pregnancy loss, stillbirth, and preterm birth. It is difficult to know yet whether COVID infection causes these outcomes or whether they happened at the same time by chance.
  • Similarly, COVID-19 can cause chronic inflammation, which could decrease fertility in both men and women.
  • The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has provided Emergency Use Authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine. It is recommended for everyone over the age of 16 who has not had an allergic reaction to the ingredients in the vaccine. Research has shown that the COVID-19 vaccine is 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 as soon as 28 days after the booster vaccine. These agencies directed all their effort to this work, day and night, which is how the vaccine was approved for use so quickly. No steps were skipped. 
  • It is not possible to get COVID infection from the vaccine. The virus is not in the vaccine.  It is like the flu shot, which exposes the body to something that looks like the part of the virus, so our bodies do the natural process of making antibodies to protect against disease. 
  • Many people have minor side effects, like tiredness, fever, muscle pain, headache, and pain where the shot was given. They could last a few days.  A few people feel very unwell. Having symptoms is a sign that the vaccine is working, and antibodies are being made.
  • Pregnant women were not allowed to be part of the research, which is very common for medical research trials. There were no reports of negative outcomes among the trial participants who became pregnant during the trial.
  • The vaccine does use a new technology called mRNA.  Two shots are required 3 weeks apart. Scientists believe that the mRNA can’t get into the placenta or the breast milk. The same kind of technology made vaccine against Ebola disease.  It has been given to pregnant and breastfeeding women.  No problems for mom or baby were found from this vaccine.
  • The vaccine does not cause birth defects or infertility. While the spike proteins on the virus and those found on the cells of the placenta are similar, they do not share enough amino acid sequences for the immune system to become confused.
  • The vaccine should also be offered to those who are breastfeeding/lactating. Like pregnant individuals, those who were breastfeeding were not included in the clinical trials for the vaccine. According to the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine, the benefits of vaccination outweigh the very small safety concerns, and you do not have to stop breastfeeding because you get the vaccine.

Experts trusted by your providers recommend strongly that pregnant women be encouraged to get the vaccine.  We can’t tell you whether to get the shot, but we trust that you will make the right decision for you and your baby. Here are some points to consider as you decide:

  • How many people are getting sick with COVID-19 in your community?
  • What is your personal risk of getting COVID-19 based on your job or other exposures?
  • What is your risk of getting very sick with COVID-19, and what is the possible harm to your baby? What other medical conditions could increase this risk? Diabetes, being overweight, having lung, kidney, heart or immune illnesses or taking medicine that depresses immune function ( like chemotherapy, methotrexate, prednisone). 
  • Consider how well the vaccine is reported to work. These vaccines work exceedingly well!
  • What are the risks to other people in your household if you get sick, especially if you are living with people at risk for serious illness, like the elderly.
  • How do you feel about the lack of scientific evidence about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness for pregnant women?
  • How do you feel you would manage the reported side effects of the vaccine?

If you do get the vaccine:

  • Pregnant women who experience fever, either as a result of COVID-19 infector or following vaccination, should take acetaminophen (Tylenol) to treat fever, since a very high fever can harm a baby. A fever is far more likely as a result of COVID-19 infection than it is from vaccination.
  • Your health professional will give you information about enrolling in the V-Safe After Vaccination Health Checker. You can provide feedback on how the vaccine experience went for up to a week following your vaccination and get help with any concerns that may arise.

If you have questions, please ask your OB/GYN.

Whatever you choose, be sure to continue with the important prevention steps like avoiding visits with those outside your household, masking and distancing when in public, and washing your hands frequently.

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