# Day 215: The COVID question

> Thirty weeks and five days. The AAP and the CDC pages describe the COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy differently. Today you write one question for your provider.

- Series: Your seventh month of pregnancy, day by day (https://chorevia.com/learn/pregnancy-month-7), day 215 of 280, 30 weeks + 5 days
- Your baby this week: about the size of a cabbage; around 39.9 cm from head to heel
- Canonical URL: https://chorevia.com/learn/pregnancy-month-7/day-215
- Last reviewed: 2026-10-22
- Publisher: Chorevia (https://chorevia.com)
- Cite as: Chorevia. "Day 215: The COVID question." Last reviewed October 22, 2026. https://chorevia.com/learn/pregnancy-month-7/day-215

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

Thirty weeks and five days. Today's note is one question to carry into your next visit, about a vaccine that the pages in this series describe in two different ways.

## Your baby

Around now your baby is around 39.9cm long from head to heel, about the size of a cabbage, and their eyes can now focus ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-30/)). Vision will keep developing, inside the womb and after birth ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-30/)).

Some of what you do in these weeks is for the months just after that. The AAP says a COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy helps protect the baby until they can get their own vaccine at 6 months old ([AAP](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/prenatal/Pages/vaccines-during-pregnancy-keeping-you-and-your-baby-healthy.aspx)).

## Your body

The AAP lists four vaccines during pregnancy: Tdap, flu, COVID-19 in each pregnancy, and RSV during only one pregnancy ([AAP](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/prenatal/Pages/vaccines-during-pregnancy-keeping-you-and-your-baby-healthy.aspx)). The CDC's vaccine safety page names two for every pregnancy: the flu shot and Tdap ([CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/about/pregnancy.html)). Its guideline table for providers lists COVID-19 as "No guidance/not applicable" and points to a separate CDC page for pregnant or breastfeeding women ([CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines-pregnancy/hcp/vaccination-guidelines/index.html)).

That is all these pages say, and they don't line up neatly. One recommends it each pregnancy; the other doesn't set it out either way on the pages here. What fits you this season is a question for your provider, not for a note.

Meanwhile, if the stairs leave you puffing, that's your baby pressing up on your lungs ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-30/)). Take them slower.

## Try today

### The COVID-vaccine question

- **Time:** 5 minutes now, 2 at your visit

1. Check your vaccine record or patient portal: have you had a COVID-19 vaccine during this pregnancy?
2. Write the question the way you'll ask it: "What do you recommend for me this season, and why?"
3. Add one follow-up that matters to you, such as timing alongside your other vaccines.
4. Ask at your next visit, and write the answer next to your vaccine checklist.

**Make it work:** Bring the AAP's list of four (Tdap, flu, COVID-19, RSV) so one conversation covers them all ([AAP](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/prenatal/Pages/vaccines-during-pregnancy-keeping-you-and-your-baby-healthy.aspx)).

## Watch for

- **Normal:** getting breathless on the stairs as your baby presses on your lungs ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-30/)). **Call 911** or go to an emergency room right away for severe chest pain or shortness of breath that does not go away ([MedlinePlus](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000583.htm)).
- **Normal:** eyes that feel tired by evening. **Call your provider** right away for changes in your vision ([CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/hearher/maternal-warning-signs/index.html)), including blurring or blind spots ([MedlinePlus](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000558.htm)).
- **Normal:** a brief dizzy moment, which the NHS lists among late-pregnancy symptoms ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-36/)). **Call your provider** right away for fainting, or for dizziness that comes with a headache that won't go away ([CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/hearher/maternal-warning-signs/index.html)).

## For you

Vaccine advice has been loud lately, and you'll hear more opinions than there are pages here. You don't have to settle it alone or online. Your provider knows your history; ask, write down the answer, and let it be done.

The next chance is never far off: visits come every 2 weeks from now until week 36 ([MedlinePlus](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000558.htm)).

## Sources

- NHS. "Week 30." Week-by-week guide to pregnancy, Best Start in Life. https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-30/
- American Academy of Pediatrics. "Vaccines During Pregnancy: Keeping You & Your Baby Healthy." HealthyChildren.org, 2026. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/prenatal/Pages/vaccines-during-pregnancy-keeping-you-and-your-baby-healthy.aspx
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Pregnancy and Vaccines." Vaccine Safety, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/about/pregnancy.html
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Guidelines for Vaccinating Pregnant Women." For healthcare providers. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines-pregnancy/hcp/vaccination-guidelines/index.html
- MedlinePlus. "Common symptoms during pregnancy." National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000583.htm
- NHS. "Week 36." Week-by-week guide to pregnancy, Best Start in Life. https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-36/
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Urgent Maternal Warning Signs and Symptoms." HEAR HER campaign, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/hearher/maternal-warning-signs/index.html
- MedlinePlus. "Prenatal care in your third trimester." National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000558.htm