Why pregnant women should get flu shots

Women who get a flu shot during pregnancy may be lowering their risk of delivering a stillborn infant, a new study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found. After studying the vaccination records from 58,008 pregnancies in Western Australia over flu season in 2012 and 2013, researchers found that the risk of stillbirth in women who were vaccinated was 51 percent lower than in those who went unvaccinated.

While researchers acknowledge that the study does not prove cause and effect and that its results may not be applicable to all populations and all flu seasons, they hope it provides further backing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation that all women get the flu vaccine during pregnancy. "We hope that these results show not only pregnant women but also their providers that flu vaccination is safe during pregnancy and has major benefits for both mother and infant," the study's lead author, Annette K. Regan, said, adding that the two main reasons that women do not get the flu shot during pregnancy are an unawareness of its importance and a fear that it might be harmful to the baby.

Currently, more than half of pregnant women in the U.S. do not get the flu vaccination.

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