Maternal child health advocate Alicia Sneed said sorting fact from fiction about the COVID-19 vaccine can be very difficult. As a breastfeeding mother, she decided to do some research.

“We're not out here vaccine-pushing, like, ‘you got to get the vaccine!’” she said. “We're really just trying to give correct information.”

She was part of the vaccine education program VALUE Baltimore’s first live streamed “COVID chat” Thursday afternoon, where mothers discussed the benefits of the vaccine for pregnant and lactating women.

VALUE co-hosted the inaugural chat with nonprofit B’More For Healthy Babies.

While the vaccines are highly effective at protecting people from COVID-19, they don’t guarantee full protection. Still, Sneed decided it was better than risking no protection at all.

She also noted that a vaccinated mother’s breast milk can contain antibodies that will benefit the child.

“I didn't just get the vaccine because everybody else was getting it,” she said. “I made sure that I understood what was happening.

Laneese Baylor is a mother of two and the coordinator for VALUE ambassadors. Recruited directly from the community, the ambassadors canvass different communities and hold virtual listening sessions with residents to help them make an informed decision on getting a vaccine.

Baylor said she was “a little scared” about the vaccine at first. But after doing her own research, she decided it would be best for her kids and loved ones.

While she never tested positive herself, Baylor said she was worried she could unknowingly pass it to someone else. She also knows many people who’ve contracted COVID-19.

“The thought of me being asymptomatic was scary enough for me,” Baylor said.

VALUE peer ambassador Keyonna Starkes-Green encouraged people to make their own informed personal decision, especially if people are pressuring you not to get vaccinated.

“Have your own thoughts about what needs to be, and how to protect your kids and your family,” she said.