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COVID-19 Information for Midwives

ELearning Course

COVID-19 vaccination is now recommended for all pregnant women. This eLearning course delivers an analysis of the latest evidence and arms midwives with the knowledge and tools to counsel the women in their care about the options available to them. It’s important that you feel equipped to answer women's questions and address their concerns.

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Resources for Midwives

The 5 As

The 5As have been developed to help guide your conversation with women in relation to discussing COVID-19 vaccination. It is not meant to be prescriptive but hopefully will provide you with some tips and a structure for having the conversation.

Talking COVID-19 Vaccines

Talking COVID-19 vaccines has been developed for midwives as a quick and ready reference to help guide your conversation with women in discussing COVID-19 vaccination. It can be used in conjunction with the DoH shared decision making guide to support your COVID-19 vaccine conversations with women.

The Department of Health Vaccines Clinic Finder

National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce

RANZCOG Statements & Guidelines

COVID-19 vaccination training program

Web Resources

Below are some resources to help inform you about COVID-19 and the vaccination

Videos

ACM Panel on COVID-19 Vaccine in Pregnancy

Available for ACM members or to purchase for non-members.

COVID Vaccine in Pregnancy

Impacts of COVID (Private Practice)

COVID-19 Vaccines in Pregnancy - The 'Access All Areas' Backstage Pass

Dr Sue Walker

Shared with permission from Dr Sue Walker and Mercy Perinatal

Communication and the COVID19 vaccine- from pre pregnancy to breastfeeding

A/Prof Margie Danchin

Shared with permission from A/Prof Margie Danchin and Mercy Perinatal

COVID-19 vaccines – How vaccines work

This video describes how vaccines work in the body after you receive a vaccination.

COVID-19 Vaccines and Pregnancy

Many women have concerns around COVID-19 vaccines and the possible impacts on their health. We take a look at some of the most common concerns women may have. Remember - COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective for women. Shared with permission from Women's Health Victoria

COVID-19 Vaccines and Fertility

Spread the word – COVID-19 vaccines do NOT affect your fertility.

Shared with permission from Women's Health Victoria

COVID-19 Vaccines and Side Effects for Women

It’s normal to have concerns about your health. Like all medical treatments, COVID-19 vaccines can have some side effects – especially for women and girls.

Shared with permission from Women's Health Victoria.

COVID-19 Vaccines and Safety

How are vaccines regulated in Australia? And how safe are the COVID-19 vaccines?

Shared with permission from Women's Health Victoria

Vaccines in Pregnancy

Video by Immunising Pregnant Women and Infants Network

RANZCOG Pregnancy & Covid-19 Vaccination

Video by RANZCOG Excellence in Women's Health.

Melanie the Midwife

In this video Dr Melanie Jackson reports on recent research about the administration of the Covid-19 vaccine to breastfeeding women

Shared with permission from Dr Melanie Jackson

Journal Articles

  • Allotey, J., Stallings, E., Bonet, M., Yap, M., Chatterjee, S., & Kew, T. et al. (2020). Clinical manifestations, risk factors, and maternal and perinatal outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnancy: living systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, m3320. doi: Read more 
  • Beharier, O., Plitman Mayo, R., Raz, T., Nahum Sacks, K., Schreiber, L., & Suissa-Cohen, Y. et al. (2021). Efficient maternal to neonatal transfer of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Journal Of Clinical Investigation, 131(13). doi: Read more
  • Chmielewska, B., Barratt, I., Townsend, R., Kalafat, E., van der Meulen, J., & Gurol-Urganci, I. et al. (2021). Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and perinatal outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 9(6), e759-e772. doi: Read more 
  • Ciapponi, A., Bardach, A., Comandé, D., Berrueta, M., Argento, F., & Rodriguez Cairoli, F. et al. (2021). COVID-19 and pregnancy: An umbrella review of clinical presentation, vertical transmission, and maternal and perinatal outcomes. PLOS ONE, 16(6), e0253974. doi: Read more 
  • Collier, A., McMahan, K., Yu, J., Tostanoski, L., Aguayo, R., & Ansel, J. et al. (2021). Immunogenicity of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines in Pregnant and Lactating Women. JAMA, 325(23), 2370. doi: Read more
  • Goldshtein, I., Nevo, D., Steinberg, D., Rotem, R., Gorfine, M., Chodick, G., & Segal, Y. (2021). Association Between BNT162b2 Vaccination and Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Pregnant Women. JAMA. doi: doi:Read more 
  • Kalafat, E., O'Brien, P., Heath, P., Le Doare, K., Dadelszen, P., & Magee, L. et al. (2021). Benefits and potential harms of  COVID ‐19 vaccination during pregnancy: evidence summary for patient counseling. Ultrasound In Obstetrics & Gynecology, 57(5), 681-686. doi: Read more
  • Karasek, D., Baer, R., McLemore, M., Bell, A., Blebu, B., & Casey, J. et al. (2021). The association of COVID-19 infection in pregnancy with preterm birth: A retrospective cohort study in California. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 100027. doi: Read more
  • Knight, M., Bunch, K., Vousden, N., Morris, E., Simpson, N., & Gale, C. et al. (2020). Characteristics and outcomes of pregnant women admitted to hospital with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in UK: national population based cohort study. BMJ, m2107. doi: Read more
  • Khalil, A., von Dadelszen, P., Draycott, T., Ugwumadu, A., O’Brien, P., & Magee, L. (2020). Change in the Incidence of Stillbirth and Preterm Delivery During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA, 324(7), 705. doi: Read more 
  • Lokken, E., Huebner, E., Taylor, G., Hendrickson, S., Vanderhoeven, J., & Kachikis, A. et al. (2021). Disease severity, pregnancy outcomes, and maternal deaths among pregnant patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in Washington State. American Journal Of Obstetrics And Gynecology, 225(1), 77.e1-77.e14. doi: Read more
  • Magnus, M., Oakley, L., K. Gjessing, H., Stephansson, O., Engjom, H., & Macsali, F. et al. (2021). Pregnancy and risk of COVID-19. doi: Read more
  • Martinez-Perez, O., Prats Rodriguez, P., Muner Hernandez, M., Encinas Pardilla, M., Perez Perez, N., & Vila Hernandez, M. et al. (2021). The association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and preterm delivery: a prospective study with a multivariable analysis. BMC Pregnancy And Childbirth, 21(1). doi: Read more
  • Mullins, E., Hudak, M., Banerjee, J., Getzlaff, T., Townson, J., & Barnette, K. et al. (2021). Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of COVID ‐19: coreporting of common outcomes from PAN‐COVID and AAP‐SONPM registries. Ultrasound In Obstetrics & Gynecology, 57(4), 573-581. doi: Read more 
  • Palmeira, P., Quinello, C., Silveira-Lessa, A., Zago, C., & Carneiro-Sampaio, M. (2012). IgG Placental Transfer in Healthy and Pathological Pregnancies. Clinical And Developmental Immunology, 2012, 1-13. doi: Read more
  • Perl, S., Uzan-Yulzari, A., Klainer, H., Asiskovich, L., Youngster, M., Rinott, E., & Youngster, I. (2021). SARS-CoV-2–Specific Antibodies in Breast Milk After COVID-19 Vaccination of Breastfeeding Women. JAMA, 325(19), 2013. doi: Read more
  • Shanes, E., Otero, S., Mithal, L., Mupanomunda, C., Miller, E., & Goldstein, J. (2021). Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Vaccination in Pregnancy. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 138(2), 281-283. doi: Read more
  • Shimabukuro, T., Kim, S., Myers, T., Moro, P., Oduyebo, T., & Panagiotakopoulos, L. et al. (2021). Preliminary Findings of mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine Safety in Pregnant Persons. New England Journal Of Medicine, 384(24), 2273-2282. doi: Read more 
  • Vousden, N., Bunch, K., Morris, E., Simpson, N., Gale, C., & O’Brien, P. et al. (2021). The incidence, characteristics and outcomes of pregnant women hospitalized with symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in the UK from March to September 2020: a national cohort study using the UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS). doi: Read more
  • Vousden, N., Ramakrishnan, R., Bunch, K., Morris, E., Simpson, N., & Gale, C. et al. (2021). Impact of SARS-CoV-2 variant on the severity of maternal infection and perinatal outcomes: Data from the UK Obstetric Surveillance System national cohort. doi: Read more 
  • Yang, J., D’Souza, R., Kharrat, A., Fell, D., Snelgrove, J., Murphy, K., & Shah, P. (2021). COVID‐19 pandemic and population‐level pregnancy and neonatal outcomes: a living systematic review and meta‐analysis. Acta Obstetricia Et Gynecologica Scandinavica. doi: Read more 
  • Zambrano, L., Ellington, S., Strid, P., Galang, R., Oduyebo, T., & Tong, V. et al. (2020). Update: Characteristics of Symptomatic Women of Reproductive Age with Laboratory-Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 Infection by Pregnancy Status — United States, January 22–October 3, 2020. MMWR. Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report, 69(44). doi: Read more

Resources for Women

Talking COVID-19 Vaccines

Talking COVID-19 vaccines has been developed for women as a  ready reference to help them in their decision making around COVID-19 vaccination. This guide can be given to women to take away. It can be used in conjunction with the DoH shared decision making guide to support COVID-19 vaccine decision making

COVID-19 vaccination – Shared decision making guide for women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or planning pregnancy

This decision guide has been developed by the Department of Health to help guide clinicians, women and their families with decision making around COVID-19 vaccination.

Information on the COVID-19 vaccine and pregnancy

This information sheet was developed by WA Health in collaboration with the Maternal and Child Health team at the Derbarl Yerrigan health service.

State and Territory information on COVID-19 and vaccination.

Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
Northern Territory coronavirus.nt.gov.au
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccine
Western Australia https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/A_E/Coronavirus

https://www.health.gov.au/ is the official Department of Health site for information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, how to protect yourself and your family, where and when you can get vaccinated, and the current situation in Australia.