LINCOLN, Neb. (KMTV) — Doctors such as maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Bryan Health in Lincoln, Dr. Sean Kenney, are urging pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine. They say it's the best way to not only protect them but also the baby.
He says without the vaccine, pregnant women are more likely to have severe cases of COVID.
"Our NICU was closed last week and a lot of them are COVID. The baby didn’t have COVID, but the mom had COVID and we had to deliver so many of them early that they're filling up our NICU, so we can get mom’s care taken care of," Kenney said.
He says the vaccine is safe and is not associated with severe complications like miscarriage or infertility.
"I haven’t had to admit someone [due to vaccine side effects]. Haven’t had to treat anyone, nausea, vomiting, low-grade temp — those things can happen but we have not had any serious side effects from the vaccines in Lincoln, where we have definitely had problems with COVID," Kenney said.
After seeing Kenney's remarks on the news, one of his patients decided to get the vaccine.
"I saw Dr. Kenney on the news and said this is my sign I need to go get this because if I don’t do this, anything could happen in a split second," Nuha Andersen said. "I’m trying to be precautious this time around with this baby. I trust everything he says. He’s a wonderful doctor. If my OBGYN says Dr. Kenney is the best of the best for high risk, I’m going to trust anything he says."
Andersen is 24 weeks along and her pregnancy is considered high risk due to complications she had while pregnant with her youngest son. At first, she was hesitant to get the vaccine.
"I was nervous because I’m pregnant, I’m high risk, I’m not a regular healthy pregnancy where you don’t have issues but I think I was nervous because I didn’t know how it would affect me, if I would get sick or what. And I’ve been avoiding going out. I usually do grocery pickups so I didn’t feel like I really needed to get it," Andersen said.
She ultimately decided to take Kenney's advice and received her first dose of Pfizer. She returns in about two weeks to get her second.
"I recommend it. I think everyone should get it, even if you’re not pregnant, I think you should get it," Andersen said.
An expecting mother who is considered high-risk and is a patient at Bryan Health in Lincoln received her first COVID-19 vaccine dose last Friday at 24 weeks pregnant. She is sharing her experience and is joined by her physician, Dr. Sean Kenney.
Watch below or on our Facebook page.
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