Even though doctors recommend flu shots during pregnancy, nearly nine out of 10 pregnant women avoid them. Toria Farley is no exception.
"Never. The one I got during the study was the first flu shot I've ever received in my whole life. I've never been the type of person to get sick, so I've always thought 'I can't get the flu' or 'I won't get the flu,'" she said.
Because a woman's immune system changes during pregnancy, she can be more vulnerable to the flu and at greater risk for complications.
But how does depression affect that risk? Dr. Lisa Christian of Ohio State University Medical wanted to find out.
"It's been really well established with research over the last 25-30 years that stress and depression affect immune function in a clinical meaningful way in people who are not pregnant," she said.
Dr. Lisa Christian says previous studies haven't focused on pregnancy. So researchers at Ohio State State University gave flu shots to pregnant women and found that emotions and physical symptoms do make a difference in how those women respond to the vaccine.
"What we do see is, that among the more depressed women, even though they still have a mild response, it's a greater and more exaggerated response than the women who are less depressed," said Dr. Christian.
Which may indicate how they'd respond to a real infection. Toria is glad she reconsidered.
"Anybody can get the flu and it kind of scares me to have a small baby and another child that's under 5 and kind of in that risk group," she said.
Dr. Christian isn't taking any chances either.
"I'm currently 18 weeks pregnant myself, and I have received the seasonal flu vaccine, and I'll be receiving the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it's available," she said.
Doctors know about a million women a year will suffer depression during pregnancy.
If you are pregnant and think you're suffering from depression, be sure to tell your doctor.
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