After warning pregnant women about taking Tylenol and dueling vaccine recommendations from the federal government and professional pediatric groups, new moms, moms-to-be, and their doctors reflect on the uncertainty and anxiety that’s quickly becoming the new norm.
“Owen, I have a question,” says Jenna Warshall to her son, Owen. “What’s in mommy’s belly?”
“Baby,” says Owen, who’s not yet two.
Jenna Warshall just entered her third trimester—a relief, she said, because she’s finally left the nausea behind.
But for the nightly headaches that plague her? She’s not taking Tylenol—even though her doctor told her it’s safe.
“It really felt like a migraine that you just couldn’t get to go away,” Warshall, 33, explained. “I trust doctors, and I trust logic and science, but, then, there is the part of me, something needling in the back of your head, it’s like, ‘Just suffer through it because what if.’”
Last September, when the Food and Drug Administration released a statement about “minimizing the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy,” President Trump went even further, saying, “Tylenol is not good,” and that pregnant women should “fight like hell not to take it.” Health organizations, doctors, and nurses quickly rushed to defend the use of Tylenol during pregnancy.
“Like, my logical side should have been the one winning out, and it really was,” said Warshall, a middle school English teacher who’s due to deliver her second son by Cesarean section this April. “But that’s head versus heart type stuff, like, and, ‘Can I in good conscience do this, if there is even a little chance?’ You know?"
“So, it’s really disappointing that there’s so much out there that can put that doubt into everyone’s minds, but moms’ minds, especially, when we’re at our most vulnerable, and when we’re at our most hormonal,” Warshall said.
And, lately, there’s more to worry about. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control announced changes to its recommended vaccine schedule, reducing the number of vaccines for children from 17 to 11. The American Academy of Pediatrics released its own vaccine schedule January 26, which calls for kids to receive 18 shots.
“I don’t think people realize the ramifications of some of these decisions,” said UVA Health OBGYN Denise Young. “Yeah, the risks are relatively low, but the consequences are devastating for some of these choices.”
Dr. Denise Young has been an obstetrician and gynecologist for more than 30 years.
“It’s very frustrating, the misinformation that’s being spread,” Young said. “I think it leaves moms very unsure about what their options are, and what the real data is behind what we’re recommending.
“It’s really frustrating to work really hard to do the best care you can provide and have random comments by people undermine everything you do,” Young added. “And put moms' health in jeopardy, and babies' health in jeopardy—a lot.”
When seeing patients, Young often tells the story about the birth of her firstborn son, who had group B strep, something pregnant women are now routinely screened for.
“I delivered about a year before they started universal testing, so I did not know I was a carrier,” Young said. “And if I hadn’t been at a hospital that had a high level neonatal intensive care unit, he would be dead or severely handicapped. I’m very, very lucky and thankful for the nurses and doctors who took care of him and realized he was sick.”
It’s a lesson Young hopes her patients take to heart. She has less sympathy for federal officials.
“I would like them to feel the pain and feel the responsibility of every child’s life, and mother’s life, that they are damaging or ending, and to take that seriously,” Young said. “You know, it’s so flippant. For them to say the flu vaccine kills more children than it saves, it’s just wrong, it’s totally wrong, and yet they say it and nobody stops them.
“They should have to be personally responsible for every child’s injury or death that occurs due to these things that they’re saying,” Young added. “I’m certainly responsible for things that I would be doing that would be ‘malpractice.’ Why shouldn’t they be?”
In contrast to the CDC’s new immunization guidelines, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 18 vaccines, including RSV, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, flu, and meningococcal disease. The group also recommends both flu and COVID-19 vaccines for all babies six months and older.