Pregnant women worried about the Covid-19 vaccine will have the chance to speak to maternity experts next week. 

A panel of the region’s top maternity health professionals will be holding a webinar to answer questions from mums-to-be on Wednesday, December 8 at 7.30pm.

It is hoped the event will provide reassurance to expecting mothers, as well as their partners and other friends and family members about having the vaccine while pregnant. 

Although the coronavirus vaccine has been proved to be both safe and effective for pregnant women and those trying to conceive, many people still have some reservations. 

The Opening Doors event, which will be held via video conferencing platform Zoom, will be a safe and friendly environment in which people can talk openly about their concerns and receive unbiased and non-judgmental advice and support. 

Director of nursing and quality Gill May said: “This event is a fantastic opportunity for us to provide women and their families, some of whom may have so far not taken up the Covid-19 vaccine, with information that will hopefully allay their concerns and fears about getting vaccinated. 

“Locally, we have safely given out more than 1.6 million vaccines, but we know a high number of our expectant mothers, as well as women who have recently given birth, have remained unvaccinated.

“The Covid-19 vaccine is safe, and any unlikely side effect from the vaccination process will in no way be as serious as actually catching coronavirus, which we know has led to many pregnant women in our region needing intense hospital care.” 

Last week, the country’s top doctors and maternity experts urged pregnant women to have the Covid-19 vaccine after new data from the UK Health Security Agency showed that vaccinated women were at no greater risk of experiencing complications during pregnancy than those who had held off from getting protected. 

The data also revealed that, out of all pregnant women currently in hospital with Covid-19, more than 98 per cent had not been vaccinated.

Vaccine appointments should be booked in advance using the National Booking Service, which can be accessed online at www.nhs.uk or over the phone by calling 119. 

Places for the Opening Doors online event can be booked by sending an email to bswccg.engagement@nhs.net 

Further information about the local vaccination programme can be found online at www.bswccg.nhs.uk