Whooping cough vaccine for pregnant women

[MrsMcK04]

Hey ladies! Something to keep in mind.....not only do you need to get the vaccine but so do any other people that will be coming into very close contact with your baby on a frequent basis (ie dad, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc). If any of those adults get pertussis (aka whooping cough) then they could also pass it on to the baby.

I am a Registered Nurse. I have personally seen newborns die from pertussis. It is not a joke. It is awful, especially when the parents realize there is something they could have done to protect their baby.

Even if you get the shot, your baby will still need the shot for their 8 week check up at the pediatrician.

I don't know how it is in the UK but in the US the name of the shot is TDaP. It stands for Tetanus, Diptheria, and Acellular Pertussis (whooping cough).

I had to have my TDaP for work (with the newborns so i'm already covered, but I made my husband go get it about 2 weeks ago and so did the grandparents as well.

Please get the vaccine as early as your OBGYN will give it to you so that you can start building immunity to it before the baby is born. As for your family, have them get it ASAP since they don't have any pregnancy stuff holding them back from doing it now

And for all you ladies with winter babies please get your flu shot too

 

[sevenofnine]

Are there any versions of the vaccine available in the US without aluminum, formaldehyde, or mercury? Just curious! (I realize they're small amounts but it still makes me worried as I generally stay away from anything containing these.)

Whooping cough is so scary though

 

[Kellen]

My midwife advised me to get mine in the hospital immediately after delivery. My parents have already gone and gotten their vaccinations and DH is up next. In the US you don't necessarily have to go to a doctor to get one. You can visit your county health office. They offer all the normal vaccines at reduced cost (normally). That being said if they do start to offer the vaccine for pregnant women in the US I would be getting mine immediately.

 

[themarshas]

I got the flu shot and pertussis vaccine while pregnant. I am so glad I did! My little man is in daycare and has already had 2 colds in the 3 weeks he's been there. And yesterday he came home with paperwork that said they had had a confirmed case of whooping cough in the center. He's too young for the actual vaccine so I'm glad I got it while pregnant and he has a little protection. My friends little one had it and spent weeks in the hospital and there was nothing she could do to help him.

 

[Snow Owl]

Was also going to ask others about this

I'm meeting my new midwife on Tuesday (just moved house) so I'll ask her what she thinks about that and the Flu jab.

I can get the flu jab in work so I might ask if it's ok for me to get it here still

 

[MindUtopia]

They said it should be available from Monday, so I'll definitely plan to get it (I think it's after 28 weeks so that would be end of November). I get my flu jab in 2 weeks, so I'll ask about that at my next appt. I had pneunomia as a baby (not related to whooping cough, but whooping cough can lead to pneumonia) and was in hospital and almost died. I've had all sorts of respiratory problems as a result. I definitely would do whatever I could to prevent my child from having to go through that! So I'm happy to get an extra jab.

 

[TryinFor1]

It must not be available where I am. I came in contact with whooping cough (I didn't catch it, thank god) but when I told my doctor he said I couldn't get the vaccine.

I would if I could but he said no, gotta listen to what he says.

 

[RebeccaG]

Where are you tryingfor1? As i heard on the news that all pregnant women in UK can get it from 28 weeks?! Ask your midwife. I had the text this morning telling me to come and get my flu jab and I'm still not sure... Only had flu jab once when I was about 10 and was so ill from it that I'm worried the same thing will happen and like another lady said, with a toddler running about I can't be ill.
Think I'm deffo getting Dtap though. Don't think my husband and the grandparents will be able to get it though as it's only pregnant women that are offered it here...

 

[TryinFor1]

Not in the uk dear! That might be what it is, too. I am in the US.

that's so weird the dtap is only offered to pregnant women there. here, as far as I know from what I have been told, its just a normal vaccine for anyone but pregnant women. My doctor said I will get it while still in the hospital after giving birth. Dh and my parents will be getting it also before bebe arrives!

 

[RebeccaG]

Why don't they give it to pregnant women there? That's a bit worrying that they don't give it there but have just started giving it here... Makes me worried about it being safe in pregnancy now... Why don't we just get it once baby has been born?!

 

[MindUtopia]

Why don't they give it to pregnant women there? That's a bit worrying that they don't give it there but have just started giving it here... Makes me worried about it being safe in pregnancy now... Why don't we just get it once baby has been born?!

I think the reason it's different in the U.S. is there's no national health service. So there may be recommendations generally that come out of the new studies that are easy to implement with the NHS, but in the U.S. it's often up to your doctor and your insurance company because it's not a national policy that can be easily implemented everywhere because the care system is quite fragmented. It's the reason some women get scans at 8, 12 and 20 weeks and others not until 20 weeks there. If your insurance company won't pay for it or your doctor hasn't read that study, you won't necessarily get it (and contrary to popular belief, most doctors don't keep up on the latest research). It's the nice thing about the NHS. There's someone who's job it is to follow the latest studies and make policy and practice recommendations that can actually be implemented everywhere all at once. It takes a lot longer to do that in the U.S. Though assuming it's just the normal Tdap shot, even in the U.S., you probably could ask your doctor to have it and assuming your insurance would pay for it (or you were willing to pay cash for it), you could probably have it. I don't think the UK one is a special one just for pregnant women. And the reason you can't just get it after baby is born is because it wouldn't transmit immunity to baby after birth, so you have to get it when baby is still in utero.

I just had a look and Tdap is actually recommended for pregnant women by the CDC, so if you want it, go ask for it. Again, just goes to show you how slow it can take recommendations to actually trickle down to practice, as the recommendation came out in 2011.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/pertussis/tdap-pregnancy-hcp.htm

 

[TryinFor1]

They didn't say. Just that I couldn't get the dtap vaccine till I gave birth.

I wouldn't worry about it too much dear. Maybe my ob was just being really cautious with me or something. He said I did need to get the flu vaccine though and I could get the dtap afterwards.

In the US, you are supposed to get the tetanus vaccine every five or ten years, I can't remember. and it comes with the pertussis vaccine in it.

 

[TryinFor1]

It had nothing to do with insurance covering it, at least for me. he just said no. Though it might be the research bit, but I don't know how often he reads but its just a common vaccine. I can't see why anyone's insurance wouldn't cover it. But I don't know. It's 100% possible since insurance companies suck.

They start to vaccinate the baby at 2 months for pertussis. But I read that thing that says women can get it during their third trimester for extra immunity for those first couple months.. I wish my doctor would let me do that, instead.

 

[themarshas]

Interesting how drs in the same country advice different things. I was told that I needed the tdap between 24-28 weeks so my little one would have some protection from birth until 2 months when he could get it himself

 

[TryinFor1]

Interesting how drs in the same country advice different things. I was told that I needed the tdap between 24-28 weeks so my little one would have some protection from birth until 2 months when he could get it himself

Jealous! Lol. I would get it if he would have said ok, but I cant force the needle in his hand.

 

[MindUtopia]

Interesting how drs in the same country advice different things. I was told that I needed the tdap between 24-28 weeks so my little one would have some protection from birth until 2 months when he could get it himself

Jealous! Lol. I would get it if he would have said ok, but I cant force the needle in his hand.

You can get it if you want. Your doctor doesn't get to make your medical decisions for you, you do.

 

[patch2006uk]

There are more questions I'd like answered on this, I'll post them here and see if anyone medical has any insight...

The vaccine itself - if we've had it before, are we not protected? How long do we create antibodies for after getting the jab? I'm 23, so it's not that long ago I had boosters (compared to my husband, who's 35, and my parents at 52). Just interested if the vaccine wears off after a certain amount of time, why aren't we offered boosters as a matter of course? Especially as whooping cough is on the increase? And if the immunity doesn't wear off, then why do we need a booster now?

The baby - does breastfeeding offer any protection? Is there any proof that the mother receiving the vaccine during pregnancy protects the baby, or is just theoretical?

Also, someone asked about the flu vaccine. I don't get the flu vaccine, but not because of any safety fears. I don't get it because it isn't actually effective against most strains of flu, only the ones prevalent the previous year. I'm sure I've also seen something that said it's unproven that it improves people's chances of not catching flu (but don't quote me on that, my research was a while ago now)

Anyone any thoughts?

 

[staybeautiful]

There are more questions I'd like answered on this, I'll post them here and see if anyone medical has any insight...

The vaccine itself - if we've had it before, are we not protected? How long do we create antibodies for after getting the jab? I'm 23, so it's not that long ago I had boosters (compared to my husband, who's 35, and my parents at 52). Just interested if the vaccine wears off after a certain amount of time, why aren't we offered boosters as a matter of course? Especially as whooping cough is on the increase? And if the immunity doesn't wear off, then why do we need a booster now?

The baby - does breastfeeding offer any protection? Is there any proof that the mother receiving the vaccine during pregnancy protects the baby, or is just theoretical?

Also, someone asked about the flu vaccine. I don't get the flu vaccine, but not because of any safety fears. I don't get it because it isn't actually effective against most strains of flu, only the ones prevalent the previous year. I'm sure I've also seen something that said it's unproven that it improves people's chances of not catching flu (but don't quote me on that, my research was a while ago now)

Anyone any thoughts?

From the DoH information:
"By immunising pregnant women against pertussis, the antibodies produced will cross the placenta to the foetus so that when the infant is born he/she already has antibodies against pertussis. This immunity is short-lived, diminishing over a few months. Therefore infants should still be immunised in accordance with the routine childhood immunisation schedule. Whilst breast-feeding is important for infants’ general health, it will not by itself prevent them becoming infected with pertussis (or other infections).
Whilst it is not known precisely how effective this approach will be, JCVI considers it is likely to be the most effective approach to help protect newborn infants from infection or to reduce
the severity of symptoms and the risk of serious complications. An additional benefit is that the protection the mother receives will also lower the risk that she becomes infected and passes it on to her infant."

What I got from that is that the vaccine is the best thing they can do to try and reduce risk, although they can't guarantee 100% effectiveness. And while breastfeeding does pass some antibodies, it's not enough by itself.

 

[jen1604]

Why don't they give it to pregnant women there? That's a bit worrying that they don't give it there but have just started giving it here... Makes me worried about it being safe in pregnancy now... Why don't we just get it once baby has been born?!

They've just started giving it here because we're in the middle of a serious outbreak of it and they need to try and protect as many newborns as possible.

Whooping cough can be horrendous. If I was still pregnant I would absolutely get it. I have a baby on strong antibiotics with chest problems at the moment, literally on 24 hour cough watch and so hoping its not the beginning of it. Terrifying. Knowing I had been vaccinated whilst pregnant would give HUGE peace of mind right now.

 

[patch2006uk]

There are more questions I'd like answered on this, I'll post them here and see if anyone medical has any insight...

The vaccine itself - if we've had it before, are we not protected? How long do we create antibodies for after getting the jab? I'm 23, so it's not that long ago I had boosters (compared to my husband, who's 35, and my parents at 52). Just interested if the vaccine wears off after a certain amount of time, why aren't we offered boosters as a matter of course? Especially as whooping cough is on the increase? And if the immunity doesn't wear off, then why do we need a booster now?

The baby - does breastfeeding offer any protection? Is there any proof that the mother receiving the vaccine during pregnancy protects the baby, or is just theoretical?

Also, someone asked about the flu vaccine. I don't get the flu vaccine, but not because of any safety fears. I don't get it because it isn't actually effective against most strains of flu, only the ones prevalent the previous year. I'm sure I've also seen something that said it's unproven that it improves people's chances of not catching flu (but don't quote me on that, my research was a while ago now)

Anyone any thoughts?

From the DoH information:
"By immunising pregnant women against pertussis, the antibodies produced will cross the placenta to the foetus so that when the infant is born he/she already has antibodies against pertussis. This immunity is short-lived, diminishing over a few months. Therefore infants should still be immunised in accordance with the routine childhood immunisation schedule. Whilst breast-feeding is important for infants’ general health, it will not by itself prevent them becoming infected with pertussis (or other infections).
Whilst it is not known precisely how effective this approach will be, JCVI considers it is likely to be the most effective approach to help protect newborn infants from infection or to reduce
the severity of symptoms and the risk of serious complications. An additional benefit is that the protection the mother receives will also lower the risk that she becomes infected and passes it on to her infant."

What I got from that is that the vaccine is the best thing they can do to try and reduce risk, although they can't guarantee 100% effectiveness. And while breastfeeding does pass some antibodies, it's not enough by itself.

Thanks, that's an interesting leaflet I hadn't come across yet.

I dunno, obviously if I don't have the vaccine and then the baby catches it, I'd feel terrible. But if it turns out in 5 years that the vaccine isn't safe, then I'd feel terrible too. My instinct is to decline it unless I find evidence that states 100% that the vaccine works in the way they're theorising, and that it confers more protection to LO than breastfeeding alone or in women in whom the vaccine hasn't worn off yet.