Short answer, yes, it is generally safe for pregnant women. Deciding to get it is completely up to you. There are two reasons doctors suggest getting the flu shot for pregnant women. The first is because getting the flu while pregnant can be dangerous. During pregnancy, your immune system is decreased (meaning you don’t fight off illnesses as easily as before). The flu is a respiratory illness. During the second and third trimester, the developing baby puts pressure on your lungs and you can have shortness of breath from that alone, add to that a respiratory illness, and you may not get in enough oxygen to provide to yourself and your growing baby (so you can actually harm your baby if you get the flu). Also, having a high fever with the flu could be dangerous to the baby as well. There is no definite, if you have the flu you will hurt your baby, but it is possible to get the flu and hurt your baby. Also, for pregnant women with decreased immune systems, they are more likely to be affected by other illnesses associated with the flu, such as pneumonia. Secondly, the antibodies you build up in response to the flu shot will be shared with your baby. So, if your baby will be born during the flu season, this means you will provide some protection to your unborn baby as well. Here is an article from the March of Dimes that discusses flu and pregnancy. Here is another article about flu and pregnancy.
Here is some information about thimerosal and preservatives from the CDC.
There are several manufacturers of the seasonal flu shot, it would be best if you could ask your doctor to see the package insert to get more information. If they cannot let you see the package insert, here is a site that has the package inserts for the different manufacturers. I don’t think the actual full list of ingredients is in the package inserts either though. The most common manufacturers that I’ve seen used so far are GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Pasteur, and Novartis.
@bkcunningham What’s really confusing about it? Thimerosal has not been proven to cause Autism, but people use it as a major reason not to vaccinate their children. By having vaccine manufacturers remove the thimerosal, they are hoping to remove that reason so that people will continue to vaccinate their children.
@tan235 Short answer: The thimerosal free vaccine contains the same ingredients as the one with thimerosal, it’s just packaged as single use only and does not need the thimerosal. Generally speaking from what I remember of flu shots in the past, they are usually egg based and contain a gelatin (so people with egg allergies should not get the shot or nasal spray). There is also the inactivated flu viruses (meaning dead flu virus) and some other ingredients. I’m not sure what the other ingredients are off the top of my head. If I can find an ingredient list, I’ll post it.