FEWER than half of pregnant women in Scotland have received a flu jab to protect themselves and their babies against the virus.
Official figures show that just 42.8% of mothers-to-be have come forward for the seasonal vaccination scheme, despite the risk of serious complications for those who catch flu.
The vaccine can also help protect babies for up to three months after their birth, but the statistics from Health Protection Scotland suggest uptake of the jab has actually fallen in the past year.
Scotland striker Suzanne Grant was vaccinated before giving birth to son Oscar, who is now three weeks old, and said it important for mothers-to-be not to put themselves at risk of falling ill after catching the virus.
The 29-year-old, who pays for the Celtic and Scotland women's teams, said: "My midwife had explained the benefits of getting the flu vaccination to me but my aunt who is also a midwife recommended getting immunised as it also protects my baby for up to three months after birth.
"Getting the jab is easy and it's good for me and my baby, so now we're both protected this winter."
Grant, from East Kilbride, added: "I'll be back at training in a couple of weeks in the New Year, so the last thing I want is to be struck down by flu when I'm just getting back into my football.
"I'd urge anyone who is pregnant to get vaccinated - it's not worth the risk of becoming ill with flu."
Mothers-to-be run the risk of major complications if they are struck down by flu because the immune system changes during pregnancy.
Doctors say the flu vaccine is safe for pregnant women and point to evidence which shows the vaccine can also help protect baby for the first three months after birth.
Gillian Smith, of the Royal College of Midwives, said: "We would encourage midwives and pregnant women to get vaccinated to protect themselves.
"Women should be aware of the importance of having the seasonal flu vaccination as soon as they become pregnant. If any pregnant woman is unsure about this, I would urge them to speak to their midwife or doctor."
Earlier this month it emerged that only 45% of two and three-year-olds in Scotland have received the winter flu jab as part of an extension of the vaccination programme.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article