Women who are pregnant, postpartum or breastfeeding are being urged to have their Covid-19 vaccine following an increase in pregnant women testing positive and requiring critical care support.

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The new advice comes after an alert was sent to all GP practices in the East of England yesterday from Pippa Greenfield, regional lead obstetrician and Wendy Matthews, regional chief midwife/director of nursing.

Their statement reads: "We are seeing a large increase in Covid positive pregnant women and a subsequent increase in women requiring critical care support."

The statement adds that all women who are requiring critical care have either not been vaccinated or only had one dose.

"There seems to be a reluctance in the uptake of Covid vaccination in pregnant women due to a variety of reasons," the joint statement adds.

The reasons, it says, include not being aware of the latest guidance from the RCOG which recommends all pregnant women, post-natal and breastfeeding women should receive the vaccine.