CARLISLE, Pa. — Abigail Martin and her 9-month-old daughter Sophie Jo will be celebrating Christmas with extended family this year, a marked change from 2020.
“It was really stressful at first. I was very scared,” Abigail said. “We didn’t do family gatherings. Work was shut down. So we were just living inside all the time.”
The choice to get vaccinated wasn’t easy at first. Already in her second trimester of pregnancy, Abigail became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Pennsylvania on Jan. 20. But she was worried about potential side effects due to being pregnant.
“I was a little bit unsure about it. I didn’t really know what to think, which way to go. I’ve heard bad things. I was hearing really good things,” she said.
Public health experts have urged pregnant women to get vaccinated. According to a CDC study released in November, unvaccinated pregnant individuals were 70 percent more likely to die from COVID-19, as well as having higher risk of getting admitted into the ICU and being put on a ventilator or an ECMO machine.
“Women who get COVID in pregnancy have a significant increase of developing moderate to severe disease, subsequently requiring hospitalization,” said Dr. Chavone Momon-Nelson, an OB-GYN at UMPC.
Late one night, Abigail made a call from a hotel room to a dependable source: her family doctor.
“She’s been my doctor since I was 14 or 15 and I really trust her opinion,” Abigail said.
Her doctor informed her the vaccine could help protect her, as well as pass antibodies on to her unborn baby.
So at 34 weeks pregnant, Abigail got the shot.
“At this point now, if I could do it all over again, I would have gotten it earlier,” she said.
Her daughter Sophie Jo is 9-months-old now and healthy.
“I think in the end it was just the best decision I could have made for my family and my daughter,” Abigail said.