Maternity Vaccination clinics
Walk-in to receive a COVID-19, flu or whooping cough vaccination during pregnancy.
You can attend one of our vaccination clinics at Southend, Basildon or Broomfield hospital maternity departments between 9.30am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
Anyone who is pregnant can find out more about pregnancy vaccinations, ask any questions they may have, and receive the vaccine on the day, thanks to these clinics within our maternity services.
Locations:
Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford Antenatal Clinic (Room A401)
Basildon Hospital, Antenatal Clinic reception (next to room 494)
Southend Hospital, Second floor next to the maternity entrance
Fertility and COVID-19 vaccination
There’s no evidence the COVID-19 vaccines have any effect on your chances of becoming pregnant.
There’s no need to avoid getting pregnant after being vaccinated.
COVID-19 vaccination, pregnancy and fertility
The public health team at Thurrock Council have worked with local GPs and other health professionals to bust some of the myths and help you understand what is fact and what is fiction.
Pregnancy
Dr Vicki Male explains why pregnant women are being encouraged to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Fertility
Dr Vicki Male allays fears on the COVID-19 vaccine and how it has not been shown to affect fertility.
Dr Chris Olukanni, a Thurrock GP, reassures people that there is no affect on fertility on getting the COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, the virus itself has been linked with fertility problems.
Further information
The below resources offer further information on the COVID-19 vaccine and pregnancy:
COVID, booster and flu vaccines – Why am I advised to have the COVID vaccine or the COVID booster?
The below video informs pregnant women/birthing people and their families why it is advised to have the COVID vaccine or the COVID booster in pregnancy.
Hi I’m Katie Kay and I’m a midwife
Hi I’m Michelle Wells-Braithwate and I’m a midwife
Why would you advise pregnant women to have the covid vaccine or the covid booster if they haven’t done so?
Well we know that being pregnant in and of itself means that women are more at risk of having respiratory diseases so that includes flu and includes covid-19
Why is it particularly important for pregnant women?
Because we know that although it’s a very small number but we know that those women who contract covid-19 particularly in the last few weeks of their pregnancy, what we would call the last trimester from around 28 weeks that they are more likely to become seriously unwell and need treatment within hospital or potentially within an intensive care unit and obviously what we want to do as midwives is give people clear and consistent advice about how they can make choices to protect themselves and their baby and keep them safe.
So, Michelle have you had your vaccinations, and have you had your Autumn booster?
I have, have you?
Absolutely I had my vaccinations as soon as they were offered, and I’ve had the booster doses that were offered to me as well.
Oh, good and I just had one
COVID, booster and flu vaccine – Why do I need to have a booster if I am healthy?
The below video informs pregnant women/birthing people and their families why there is a need to have a booster vaccine in pregnancy if they are healthy.
Hi I’m Katie Kay and I’m a midwife
Hi I’m Michelle Wells-Braithwaite and I am a midwife
Most women are healthy so if I’m healthy why do I need to have an injection or booster if I’m healthy?
So we know that yes most of the women that we look after are healthy but for some people they do have conditions and that affect them outside of pregnancy that we need to pay special attention to so for some
women particularly those that have asthma or people that have problems with high blood pressure or have got existing cardiac problems and they are going to be an even further increased risk of
becoming unwell if they have covid 19.
There are some other groups of people that we know that within pregnancy if they have covid-19 are a greater risk of becoming more unwell so that includes people from our black and brown
communities it also includes people who know that they have a body mass index that’s over 30.
So that’s people that we would say were a bit overweight but for everybody it’s important because
we know that a normal function of pregnancy is that your immune level is decreased slightly so that means you’re more at risk to catching these respiratory conditions in the first place and then as the pregnancy progresses, the weight of the baby and it puts pressure on your on your lungs
which means actually again you’re more at risk of developing respiratory conditions so it’s an increased risk for everyone in pregnancy and it’s a further increase for people in those groups that I talked about previously.
So, Michelle have you had your vaccinations, and have you had your Autumn booster?
I have, have you?
Absolutely I had my vaccinations as soon as they were offered, and I’ve had the booster doses that were offered to me as well.
Oh, good and I just had one
COVID, booster and flu vaccine – Why does the COVID vaccine and booster benefit unborn babies?
The below video informs pregnant women/birthing people and their families why the COVID and booster vaccines are given in pregnancy and what the benefits are to unborn babies.
Hi, I am Katie Kay, and I am a midwife
I am Michelle Wells-Braithwaite, and I am a midwife
How would having the covid vaccine or the booster be of benefit to my unborn baby?
Okay so again it’s a small risk but if that happens to you then it’s devastating. There’s a small risk that for women who develop COVID-19 in the latter stages of their pregnancy, in the third trimester there will be an increased risk of becoming seriously unwell and needing treatment within hospital or within an intensive care unit within a hospital. And for those women for their babies the safety of their babies is compromised as well, so what happens is there is an increased risk that your baby will be born early or what we call pre-term and babies that are born earlier than they should be are at greater risk of lots of different health conditions. So it’s safer for your baby to be born at the right time and having COVID-19 and becoming seriously unwell does increase the risk that your baby could be born early.
So, Michelle have you had your vaccinations, and have you had your Autumn booster?
I have, have you?
Absolutely I had my vaccinations as soon as they were offered, and I’ve had the booster doses that were offered to me as well.
Oh, good and I just had one
Ask the Expert events – our colleagues in Suffolk and North East Essex have hosted a number of ask the expert sessions around the COVID-19 vaccine, including several on fertility, pregnancy and breast feeding.
COVID-19 vaccination: a guide for all women of childbearing age, pregnant or breastfeeding – Advice for all women of childbearing age the Gov.uk website.
COVID-19 vaccines, pregnancy and breastfeeding – An FAQ on the vaccine and pregnancy from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Pregnancy, breastfeeding, fertility and coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination – advice for pregnant and breastfeeding women on the NHS website.
Full Fact: COVID-19 vaccines and pregnancy: fact checked – Full Fact and Pregnant Then Screwed have launched a WhatsApp helpline service through which pregnant women and their families can request fact checks directly from Full Fact.