Are vaccines safe for pregnant women?
There is no evidence the vaccines cause a different reaction in pregnant women.
Side effects reported by expectant mothers are similar to those seen among non-pregnant women.
Real-world data does, however, show mothers-to-be face a greater risk from Covid, especially if they get infected in their third trimester or have underlying health conditions.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists warn pregnant women are slightly more likely to give birth prematurely or suffer a stillbirth if they catch Covid.
And NHS chiefs last month revealed one in five Covid patients on ventilators were expectant mothers who had not been jabbed.
Could vaccines harm babies in the womb?
Experts have uncovered no proof that the jabs can harm babies in the womb — and insist there's no reason to suspect they would either.
Covid vaccines do not contain ingredients that are known to be harmful to pregnant women or to a developing baby.
Nor do they contain organisms that can multiply in the body, so they cannot infect an unborn baby in the womb.
Studies of the vaccines in animals to look at the effects on pregnancy have shown no evidence jabs cause harm.
Research from six studies involving 40,000 women show the vaccines don't raise the risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, stillbirth, or the baby being born smaller than usual or with birth defects.
Miscarriages occur in 20 to 25 per cent of pregnancies
