Public Health England and NHS leaflet titled 'Please help monitor COVID-19 vaccine safety in pregnancy'

Leaflet titled 'Please help monitor COVID-19 vaccine safety in pregnancy', from Public Health England and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), product code COV2020605 1p 10K (APS) MAR 2021, UK, 2021

Monitoring the safety of vaccines and medication is always important, but particularly so for high-risk groups like pregnant people. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and other groups such as the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists recommend being vaccinated against COVID-19 during pregnancy, as contracting COVID-19 while pregnant increases the risk of adverse effects as such premature birth. However, there are higher levels of vaccine hesitancy among pregnant people than in the wider population, including particular concerns about the effect that the vaccine may have on pregnancy. Initially, there was a lack of data because clinical trials, including COVID-19 vaccine trials, rarely include pregnant people, but studies have now shown that COVID-19 vaccines are safe in pregnancy.

Reporting and monitoring were key to that research. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) runs the Yellow Card scheme which monitors the adverse effects of all drugs and healthcare products. This leaflet is specifically calling for pregnant people to get involved in monitoring. Using this data, the MHRA found no patterns to suggest that any of the COVID-19 vaccines used in the UK increase the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, huge amounts of public health information were produced and distributed in the UK. Most of this came from the UK Health Security Agency, which was known as Public Health England until April 2021. This public health information covered a vast range of topics and was frequently updated to reflect changing guidelines and research.