Mercy Pediatrician Dr. Ashanti Woods Explains How Flu Vaccination During Pregnancy Protects Baby

Heading into the holidays, Maryland is seeing low levels of flu, COVID, and RSV. Doctors say it is important to get your yearly flu shot—especially if you are pregnant, as the shot helps both mother and baby.

According to Ashanti Woods, M.D., FAAP, who specializes in general pediatrics at Mercy Family Care Physicians in Baltimore, while babies younger than six months old are unable to get the flu shot, mothers who are vaccinated can pass some of that protection on to their baby once the baby is born.

When women are pregnant, their lungs are more compressed because of the baby. So, if the mother gets the flu, that can cause some complications.

Dr. Woods explained it doesn’t matter what trimester you get your flu shot, but said studies show babies are more protected if the mother gets her flu vaccine during her second or third trimester.

The bottom line, Dr. Woods said, is that any protection is good.

“We’re giving the flu a whole bunch of respect. We have started to see some flu cases here in the Maryland area. We’re also comparing that with RSV cases,” Dr. Woods said. “What happens is, with illnesses, they don’t necessarily play fair. In other words, if I have the flu, I might also have RSV. I might also have rhinovirus. A lot of parents, when they go to the emergency department, if they’re getting something called a respiratory panel, the respiratory panel is coming back sometimes positive for two or three things. So, we do want to definitely protect against the things that we can protect [against]: whether that’s the flu, whether that’s RSV, or whether that’s COVID as well.”

According to a large study, flu vaccination during pregnancy was associated with a 44% reduction in influenza infection during an infant’s first six months of life.

Dr. Woods noted that babies who get the flu under six months old can end up in the emergency room, and in some cases, the flu for a baby that young can be fatal.

View Mercy pediatrician Dr. Ashanti Woods’ interview regarding flu vaccination during pregnancy.