They are usually urged not to drink coffee, sip wine or pop aspirin. But now pregnant women find themselves atop the federal government's priority list for those who ought to receive the new swine flu vaccine -- a prospect that some mothers-to-be are greeting with caution. Though the vaccine is still in clinical trials and won't be available until the fall, expectant moms already are starting to ask their doctors, and each other, whether or not the H1N1 vaccine is safe for themselves and their babies. Swine flu questions now mingle with notices for sale strollers and nanny postings on community list serves. The Centers for Disease Control and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists are recommending that all pregnant women be vaccinated against swine flu after a study published in the Lancet medical journal last month showed that pregnant women are four times more likely to be hospitalized from the disease than the general public. To date, fifteen victims of swine flu around the United States were expectant mothers -- about 6 percent of all swine flu deaths reported to the CDC. Pregnant women make up 1 percent of the U.S. population. The CDC and the obstetricians' group have long urged pregnant women to get the seasonal flu vaccine and said it is safe for all trimesters. But a surprisingly low number -- less than 15 percent -- actually do so, according to the CDC. That's in part because some expectant mothers are loathe to get vaccines or even take over-the-counter medicines, experts said. Maggie Little, the director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University, who has written extensively about pregnancy and risk, said that there is often a strong reluctance by pregnant women and providers to take medications -- even ones that are relatively low-risk. The culture 'tends toward perfectionism and control around pregnancy,' Little said. 'Pregnant women drive themselves crazy sometimes, doing more harm than good, like not taking the medication they need.' She is worried about the consequences of that mindset, warning 'if we get a bad resurgence of the flu and these women don't get vaccinated, we're going to have a lot of dead mommies and babies.' Many moms -- as well as some special interest groups concerned about vaccine safety -- worry about whether the new vaccine will have been tested enough before millions of doses are administered later this year. Currently, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is testing the vaccine on 2,800 children and adults and will be testing on 360 to 720 pregnant women beginning in mid-September, according to Anthony Fauci, the institute's director. 'This influenza vaccine ... is being made in the same way and by the same companies we have worked with every year for seasonal flu vaccine, literally for decades,' Fauci said. 'Although you never take the safety issue lightly or presume anything, historically the use of it (with pregnant women) has not been a red flag-issue.' A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that Americans are not as concerned about a possible swine flu pandemic as public safety and health officials seem to be -- more than six in 10 are not worried, although more than half said they would likely get the vaccine, according to the poll. 'My chances of actually getting swine flu are slim to none,' said Keenia Adams, 23, a student at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., who is pregnant. 'Why take this vaccine? What if it makes me sick in other ways? What if I find out after I take it could be harmful to my baby? I'm a little worried about that.' Wendy Lubell, 36, a personal trainer pregnant with her second child, says she will not get the vaccine in part because she believes she had a bad reaction to a seasonal flu vaccine while in college. She's careful about what she ingests while pregnant, she says, but will occasionally treat herself to a cup of coffee or ice cream. 'I'm a not an expert. I am not a scientist. I am not a doctor,' Lubell said. 'I have to make my decision based on the information I hear and my intuition.' Her intuition is saying no. 'I personally don't understand if you're perfectly healthy person why you'd inject yourself with something that could potentially cause risk to you and your fetus,' Lubell said. A pregnant woman's body is more susceptible to flu for several reasons, experts say. Pregnant women typically have altered immune systems and, in the advanced stages, their growing bellies compress lung capacity which can make them vulnerable to pneumonia -- a potentially fatal complication of swine flu. Local obstetricians and midwives say they have been fielding more questions about the vaccine in recent days. 'I get a couple of phone calls and patients every day asking about it,' said obstetrician Laura Pickford, who delivers babies at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, Va. 'Most of them are wanting to know how to get it. I tell them it's not out yet.' But she is likely to recommend that they get it. 