You are here: Home » My Pregnancy » Pregnancy and Coronavirus
If you're pregnant, read about how COVID-19 could affect you, your baby and your pregnancy care.
If you're pregnant, you're at higher risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19. If you get COVID-19 late in your pregnancy, your baby could also be at risk.
It's important to tell your midwife or maternity team if you have symptoms of COVID-19. They can give you support and advice and you can speak to them about any concerns.
You're at higher risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19 if you're pregnant, especially if you are more than 28 weeks pregnant (in your 3rd trimester).
Other things that can put you at higher risk if you are pregnant include if you:
COVID-19 vaccination is the safest and most effective way for women to protect themselves and their baby against COVID-19.
It's strongly recommended that you get vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect you and your baby. The antibodies your body produces in response to the vaccine can also give your baby protection against COVID-19.
Evidence shows that most pregnant women with COVID-19 who need hospital treatment or intensive care in the UK have not been vaccinated.
Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 reduces the risk of having a stillbirth.
There's no evidence COVID-19 vaccination increases the risk of having a miscarriage, pre-term birth or other complications in your pregnancy.
Find out more about:
It's also important to follow advice about how to avoid catching and spreading COVID-19 throughout your pregnancy.
If you're more than 28 weeks pregnant (in your 3rd trimester) it's especially important to follow this advice.
You still need to go to all of your pregnancy (antenatal) scans and appointments unless you're told not to.
You can talk to your employer about how they can help reduce your risk at work. This might include working from home if you are able and wish to.
If you have COVID-19 or get any symptoms of COVID-19, speak to your midwife or maternity team. They will advise you what to do and you can speak to them about any concerns.
You may need to rebook some of your pregnancy appointments or have them online, by phone or as a video consultation.
You can ease mild symptoms by resting and drinking plenty of fluids.
Before taking any medicine, including painkillers, check with your pharmacist, midwife or GP that it's suitable.
Find out more about medicines in pregnancy
If you have a high temperature or you do not feel well enough to go to work or do your normal activities, try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people.
Find out more about what to do if you have COVID-19 or symptoms of COVID-19
If you're worried about your symptoms or not sure what to do, go to 111.nhs.uk or call 111.
Do not wait until the next day or your next appointment – call immediately, even if it's the middle of the night.
If you do not have a midwife or maternity team call a GP or go to 111.nhs.uk. Call 111 if you cannot get help online.
If you have symptoms of COVID-19 and go into labour, you'll be advised to give birth in a unit led by a doctor (obstetrician). This is so the team can look after you and your baby more closely.
You'll be cared for in an area within the maternity unit that's just for pregnant women and people with COVID-19.
Your maternity team will make sure you get the best care and respect your birth choices as closely as possible.
After your baby is born, you should be able to have skin-to-skin contact unless your baby is unwell and needs care in the neonatal unit.
You'll also be encouraged to breastfeed. There's no evidence COVID-19 can pass on to your baby in breast milk, so the benefits of breastfeeding and the protection it offers outweigh any risks.
If you have any questions or concerns at any time, speak to your midwife or maternity team.
You can also find answers to commonly asked questions about COVID-19 and pregnancy from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology.
If you need information or support in a different language you can read translated versions of pregnancy leaflets from NHS England.
It's important to continue taking any medication prescribed unless your GP/specialist specifically tells you to stop. Please visit our Existing Health Conditions page for more information, or visit 'Bumps' ('Best Use of Medicines in Pregnancy').
Your choices will be saved as a non-identifying cookie. This means that each time you load a webpage from this website, your chosen accessibility options will be applied. These cookies will last for 28 days before resetting.
When text to speech is active, you can click the play button to hear the whole sites content read aloud. You can also highlight a section of text and press play, to hear only the highlighted text.
Choose a language from the Google provided selector below.
A screen mask is a reading tool which follows your cursor. It allows you to remove distractions from around the page and gives a clear area of focus.
Use these icons to increase, decrease or reset the size of the text throughout the site.
Change the colour of text and the background of the site with the selectors below. This removes images and makes the content across the site easier to read.