COVID-19 During Pregnancy Can Increase Complications For Mom, Baby

Arlington TX

30 December, 2021

4:38 PM

Description

By Alexis Allison, Fort Worth Report December 29, 2021 In the weeks after Katelyn Bailey took her second pregnancy test — positive — in late January, she said she felt two sentiments: "Yay! But, oh no!" Bailey, who was 23 at the time, was finishing up her final semester at Texas A&M University-Commerce. This would be her first pregnancy. She also worked as an administrative assistant at a doctor's office in Keller that treated COVID-19 patients. Navigating pregnancy as a first-time mom is difficult as-is, she said, but the pandemic compounded her anxiety. Her husband couldn't come to any of her prenatal appointments because of COVID-19 restrictions. "It was hard on me," she said, "but it was especially hard on him." In the early months of the vaccine rollout, the uncertainty about how the vaccine would affect pregnant women gave her pause. Her husband chose to get vaccinated. She decided to wait. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn't formally recommend pregnant women for the vaccine until mid-August, about three weeks before her son was born. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.