Pregnancy is scary enough. Worries about your baby’s healthy development, anxiety over what labor and delivery will be like and conflicting information on what to eat or not eat can really weigh on your mind.
Pregnancy is scary enough. Worries about your baby’s healthy development, anxiety over what labor and delivery will be like and conflicting information on what to eat or not eat can really weigh on your mind.
Outside of the medical community, every mama, auntie or Big Mama in your family, neighborhood or church has their own old wives tale about what to do and what not to do during pregnancy.
If that weren’t enough, the recent spate of H1N1/ swine flu is a real concern for everyone especially mothers of young children and pregnant women. Who should get the vaccine? Is the seasonal flu vaccine just as effective? What’s in the vaccine? You see, a lot of questions.
The CDC has recommended that healthy pregnant women get vaccinated against the seasonal flu. Yet new data shows that only 20% of those who are currently pregnant plan to get a flu vaccine this season. I’m sure that number is much higher among black women.
What gives?
Well, for one, let’s face it, our community tends to distrust the medical field anyway and the government runs a close second. And the internet is full of so called experts, scary stories and more, it’s hard to know what is correct and what is potentially harmful.
To help, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) and the National Women’s Health Resource Center (NWHRC) have launched a new campaign, "Flu-Free and A Mom-to-Be: Protect Yourself, Protect Your Baby — Get a Flu Shot!." The "Flu-Free and A Mom-to-Be" campaign aims to educate health care providers and their patients about the importance of both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 vaccines. You can check it out here, and download helpful information.
The chat will feature two leading specialists from the American Academy of Pediatrics who will lead an open discussion and Q and A. Dr. Renee Jenkins, is chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at Howard University and immediate past president of The American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Meg Fisher is a pediatric infectious disease specialist and chair of the infectious disease section of the Academy. Both of these amazing women are committed to giving our community the answers they need to make their own decisions.
Get all the info you need to protect yourself and keep you, your growing baby or newborn infant healthy. You owe your little one that much.
