Your Baby, Your Choice
Courtney Carter
/ Categories: WELLNESS, 2024

Your Baby, Your Choice

Feeding options and support to help your baby thrive

A certified lactation consultant at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Kimberleigh Weiss-Lewit, MA, IBCLC, PMH-C says, “How a family chooses to feed their child is a personal choice that deserves to be respected and supported. The most important thing is ensuring the child is getting adequate nourishment. That may come in the form of breast milk, donor milk, formula, or a combination of the three. Every parent should learn about and carefully consider their options and make the choice that works best for them.”

With over 30 years of experience advising families on feeding options and practices, certified lactation consultant Bridget Bromirski, C-PNP, IBCLC in SVMC’s Women’s and Children’s Services Department encourages all parents-to-be to make full use of all resources available related to the care and feeding of their baby.

“There’s an expression ‘you don’t know what you don’t know.’ I think that applies particularly well to having a baby,” says Bromirski. “Throughout a pregnancy, parents should try to learn about all the resources available to them and learn all they can; this includes feeding options. Just as you want to be comfortable and confident in the choices you make related to delivery, you want to go home with the same sense of confidence about how you’ll feed your baby and know where to turn when you have questions.”

 

SVMC offers the following pre- and post-natal resources related to feeding a newborn. To learn more about these resources, call (802) 447-5160:

Childbirth Education: during the final trimester, covers feeding options and other topics related to delivery and caring for a newborn

Prenatal lactation class: offered every other month to all expectant parents to learn more about lactation, breastfeeding, and feeding their baby human milk

Postpartum lactation support: consultation with a board-certified lactation consultant immediately after birth and throughout a new family’s stay at the hospital  

Ongoing lactation support: SVMC’s lactation consultants are available 24/7 to support and assist in the days, weeks, and months after birth.

The Baby Café: Based out of the Bennington Community Market at 239 Main St., Bennington every Wednesday from 11 to 12:30 p.m., the Baby Café is a free and friendly resource for new and expectant parents—no matter how you are or plan to feed your child. Staffed with International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants and/or RNs, the Café provides breastfeeding support in an informal, drop-in group setting with lunch provided.

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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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