To vaccinate or not? Post Reply

[daisydaisy]

I do not know whether to follow the current advice about getting the whooping cough vaccination whilst pregnant.

[AbbevilleMummy]

I understand your concerns, when I was pregnant it was the swine flu epedemic and I did have the vaccine but I was apprehensive.

My advice would be to talk to your doctor and only take advice from them, not the general public's opinion or hearsay.

[Almaceti]

I was also pregnant at the time of the swine flu and the only advice that I was given by my GP is "the recommendation from the NHS is the vaccinate pregnant women" however they had no idea what could be the risks!
I decided not to get it because I formed my mind that: the risk of getting the swine flu was low; the risk that if I got the swine flu my baby would have problems was even lower, however the risk of injecting something in your body and in the foetus and discovering in 20 years time that your child has unpredictable side-effects was absolutely unknown, and this did worry me much more.
We all know that pregnant women should not take any medicine (apart from paracetamol) so how can they say it is safe to inject you and your foetus a vaccine? when my mother was pregnant some women were prescribed a medicine and now their daughters are sterile...
This is a difficult choice, I remember it was tricky for me when I was pregnant and I did not obtain any good advice from GPs and midwifes. I have no knowledge of the risks re. whooping cough but I'd recommed that you make some research and make your own mind about the risks now and the risks later.

[ekf]

I'm 26 weeks pregnant so am going to face this decision very soon. I'm just coming to terms with having to have the flu jab and now this.
I've had all my vaccinations since childhood so is that now not enough to keep my baby protected until they start their routine vaccinations?
Is there even any evidence that any antibodies I may create from this vaccine are passed on to the baby?
But my big concern is that there is not a single vaccine for Whopping cough so we will be given the vaccine which also contains tetanus, diphtheria and polio. So not only are we being asked to consider having a vaccination During pregnancy that has never been used in this way before but we will have 4 different vaccines.

[supergirl]

Hi

I second Almacet's post. I will also say that unless you have a really good GP, you ll find that the NHS will not give you proper advice. They follow stats and mainly all the decisions come down to what is cheaper. So if it is cheaper to routinely jab pregnant women for the whooping cough without increasing too much the risks for the foetus, then that is what they will encourage you to do.
(Same reasoning for antibiotics, they prescribe amoxycillin in 90% of the cases because it is the cheapest one on the market although it is not the most efficient for pneumonia for instance).

If you really want to check the risks of the jab, go on the website of the worldwide health organisation, it is very good for reference and also check what they suggest in other developped countries. It is good to compare.

In my case i didnt have the swine flu vaccine nor did i vaccine my newborn baby for it although i did receive a letter asking me to come.

Sx

[Cloud]

I agree with all the previous posters about doing your own research, but I have decided to have the vaccine because I do think in this case there is a (relatively) high risk of a newborn contracting whooping cough. The decision to promote the vaccine has not been taken as a measure to curb the outbreak generally, it is just to ensure that newborn babies (who appear to be particularly vulnerable and at risk) don't catch whooping cough in their first 8 weeks before their 8 week immunisation. It is also worth noting that pregnant women in the US have had the vaccine over the last year or so and it looks as though the vaccine is the same one used for very young children, which has been safety tested for years.

I thought this article was really informative:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19751209

Let's hope that my GP surgery gets its act together to stock it soon!

[supergirl]

Just done some googling. Read that:

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_ ... gh-vaccine

Sx

[erinisle22]

Thanks for that link supergirl! X

[Laura9]

I completely understand your anxieties about making the right decision. I am a Practice Nurse (currently on maternity leave!) and I have vaccinated hundreds of children with Repevax (the vaccine which will be offered to pregnant women) and I have no concerns about its safety in children and would snap it up if I was pregnant right now. For what it's worth, I have also vaccinated many pregnant women with diphtheria, tetanus & polio vaccine who require protection due to travel to developing countries (obviously with their informed consent). Whooping cough is such a serious illness, and thoroughly unpleasant I really think the most sensible thing to do is to have the vaccine. I hope that helps but I do understand the concern. Good luck!

[Emma]

I have just written an article about whooping cough as many people don't know what it is like, the link is below.

I really feel for you, as pregnancy is full of difficult decisions and it is really hard to make an informed decision for yourself and for your unborn baby. The vaccine is tried and tested and everyone is particularly cautious about vaccinating in pregnancy. There is an outbreak at the moment and 9 newborn babies have died from Whooping Cough this year.

http://www.firstaidforlife.org.uk/blog/

[ladyofacertainage]

My sister in law contracted whooping cough at 2 weeks old and my sister at 4 months, both were very ill but recovered, but it has affected them all their lives, both very prone to chest infections and neither grew enormously so are small adults. It is a very serious disease for all but especially young babies, I would definitely have the vaccine....

[rachelko24]

All above points are very valid and it is of course a good idea to do your own research and decide what is right for you.

I would personally get it (if pregnant)...the consensus seems to be that it is effective and is a safeguard for when the infant is newborn (for the period before they are able to get their immunizations first hand.

I only say this as I have seen whopping cough when we first moved here from America in February this year...and it was terrifying. My little one could not breathe and those moments before we reached the hospital were seriously intense. He had never contracted anything in his 3 years of life back in the states, and when speaking with the A&E it is quite the epidemic in this country.

So, yep, I would get it, and I'm hoping the booster my 3 year old received will ride us through this season as well.

[jess123]

Pregnant myself I did my own research after reading your post and I'm of the opinion not to. Whilst I totally appreciate the risks and how terrible whooping cough is and I don't deny this in any way, I do not feel that what has been suggested has been properly investigated. I contacted a private immunisation company who are based on Harley St and asked for their views on the vaccine being suggested. Their response was of serious concerns regarding offering the 4 in 1 vaccine to pregnant women when it has never been tested on pregnant women. To me it feels like a knee-jerk response to the terrible deaths of these babies and not a properly thought out response. As shown by the Mumsnetter who is a GP and who didn't know about it till it she saw it on the Breakfast news and had to field calls from patients with no background knowledge on the matter. Thank you to the First Aid article which has raised my awareness of the disease and all those who posted.

[stayathomemuminsw11]

Hi,

I am 33 weeks pregnant, and asked my obstetrician about this today (I am going privately at The Kensington Wing at Chelsea and Westminster).

She said she was't sure about it all-in the sense that C&W only actually have 9 doses of the vaccine in the hospital, and there has been much discussion about how to get it rolled out, who will supply it etc. She said she'd keep me posted. I'm going to ask my NHS GP if they have any as well, but based on what I've read, if it's available, I'll take it!

[ceecee]

I'm a pregnant GP and had the vaccine today...along with a pregnant paediatrician!