Flu shot frustration

[GeekMom1213]

I'm 5w4d. I work in a rehab/long term care facility as a nurse. They gave all the residents their flu shots a couple of weeks ago and are now making the rounds giving them to staff. I asked the nurse giving them if they had the preservative-free vaccine (recommended for pregnant women) and she said no it wasn't available, I should talk to my doctor before I got it anyway.
So I called my midwives and they tell me that I should wait until my second trimester because of my history of miscarriage. That means it'll be the middle of December before I can get it... and in a workplace like mine I'm at really high risk to get the flu. I'm really frustrated... there's no good answer! All I can do is make sure my family is vaccinated and hope for the best. Grumble.

[GeekMom1213]

Unfortunately RockRose that's not the case. We have new rehab patients and residents coming in all the time, who aren't always vaccinated and are able to refuse if they choose to. Many hospitals now require employees to be vaccinated but my employer hasn't made that step yet so my coworkers can refuse as well. Also, most of our patients are elderly with several comorbidities so they are immunocompromised and more likely to contract the flu whether or not they've been vaccinated - not to mention all the visitors, family members, and contract employees (laundry, maintenance, etc) who aren't even offered the flu shot by the facility. My primary care doc tells me "you work in a cesspool of potential disease" and he's right. The only things I've picked up there so far have been colds and conjunctivitis but I'm at very high risk. It just makes me nervous.
Thanks for sharing your doctor's viewpoint traciv - I'll talk to my midwives when I see them next and see if we can bump it up a bit, I really don't want to wait that long to get the shot if I can protect myself and my baby from the flu without risking another loss.

[RockRose]

Geekmom,  now that all the residents and staff have had their flu shots,  I would think you're at very low risk for contracting flu there.

[traciv]

I work in a casino and had to get mine at 10 weeks. I also have a history of miscarriage but my doctor told me to absolutely get the flu shot and that it didn't matter to get it in your first trimester.  She also said if I get the flu my baby would be at a very high risk for miscarriage or birth defects due to the fever I would get.