NHS encourages pregnant women to get COVID-19 vaccine

 The NHS is encouraging pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine as new data shows that nearly 20 per cent of the most critically ill COVID patients are pregnant women who have not been vaccinated.

Since July, one in five COVID patients receiving treatment through a special lung-bypass machine were expectant mums who have not had their first jab.

Pregnant women have been treated with a therapy, called Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), used only when a patient's lungs are so damaged by COVID that a ventilator cannot maintain oxygen levels.

England's top midwife is today reassuring women that the vaccine is safe and effective during pregnancy and is recommended by clinicians and charities.

Out of all women between the ages of 16 and 49 on ECMO in intensive care, pregnant women make up almost a third (32 percent) - up from just 6 per cent at the start of the pandemic, March 2020.

Read the full news article on NHS News.