{"id":28227,"date":"2025-10-16T13:20:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skepticalraptor.com\/skepticalraptorblog.php\/?p=28227"},"modified":"2025-10-16T13:20:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:20:43","slug":"covid-vaccine-during-first-trimester-not-linked-to-birth-defects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skepticalraptor.com\/skepticalraptorblog.php\/covid-vaccine-during-first-trimester-not-linked-to-birth-defects\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID vaccine during first trimester NOT linked to birth defects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new study shows that receiving an mRNA COVID vaccine during the first trimester of pregnancy does not lead to birth defects. From my standpoint, I didn’t even know that this was an issue, but we now have scientific evidence that pregnant women have fewer reasons to worry about the safety of the COVID vaccine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We continue to receive overwhelming scientific evidence<\/a> that the COVID mRNA vaccine helps both the mother and her developing baby in addition to its solid safety profile. There is almost no reason for a pregnant mother to avoid the vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article will review the new data, ensuring that every mother can be assured that the COVID vaccine administered during the first trimester of pregnancy will not increase the risk of birth defects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Amina Filkins on Pexels.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

COVID vaccine and birth defects research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a paper published on 1 October 2025 in JAMA Network Open<\/a><\/em>, Mahmoud Zureik, MD, PhD, EPI-PHARE Scientific Interest Group in Epidemiology of Health Products, Saint-Denis, France, and colleagues, examined the medical records of nearly 500,000 infants to determine if fetal exposure to maternal COVID mRNA vaccines in the first trimester of pregnancy was linked to an increased risk of 75 major congenital malformations (MCMs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research team utilized data from the Mother-Child EPI-MERES Register, a part of France’s national health data system. They included all live-born infants of mothers aged 15 to 49 years at conception whose pregnancies began between April 2021 and January 2022. The investigators excluded the infants of mothers who used teratogenic<\/a> drugs or had teratogenic infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers included individuals who had primary exposure to a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine between the date of conception and day 91, the first trimester’s last day. The study excluded pregnant women who received non-mRNA COVID vaccines. The investigators searched for 72 MCMs in infants within 1 year after delivery, and assessed the incidence of three more, epispadias, hypospadias, and microcephaly, within 2 years after birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the key results:<\/p>\n\n\n\n