To vaccinate newborn or not

[confusedaboutclothes]

I know this is a very sensitive subject, but i’m asking please for FACTS only - I don’t want answers like ‘because the NHS recommends you to vaccinate your baby etc’

Id like to point out i’m not ‘anti vax’ as such, but covid really opened my eyes to researching vaccines etc i’ve done my own research on whether i should be vaccinating my newborn but it’s hard to find unbiased facts.

What I don’t like, is the pressure that is put on us to do as we’re told with our babies. I don’t like the constant reminders, the phone calls and the pressure to vaccinate - it all feels like a box ticking exercise not because the NHS are actually worried about my baby.

Please be kind, I really am confused about this and would love some different perspectives

I see kids everyday that live with the complications of meningitis.

Not one of them were vaccinated.

Every single parent, after months in hospital, wishes they had vaccinated their kids. It's always a bit late in the day for wishes when they're child is the one that needs to live with seizures, hearing loss and kidney problems. It makes me so bloody mad.

I don't say this lightly but I do think any parent who chooses not to vaccinate shouldn't have been a parent in the first place.

I think you should have thought about your stance on vaccines before you got pregnant because 'doing your own research' is a load of rubbish when the vaccines have been meticulously studied for years.

Your children will have benefited significantly because so many other children were vaccinated meaning that these fatal childhood diseases were practically eradicated.
Now that more parents have been refusing vaccines cases of these disease have returned and unvaccinated children (including those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, some of whom are incredibly medically vulnerable) will be at risk of death as a result.

No, the NHS aren’t worried about your baby specifically, don’t be ridiculous. They are worried that not enough people will have their children vaccinated and that children will die of diseases that are entirely preventable in 2024.

Have you looked at historic child mortality statistics and the causes?

You might find it easier to find information on what catching the illnesses could do to your child than information about what the vaccines do.

Another thing you need to consider is that vaccines give herd immunity, so any vulnerable child that is unable to have the vaccines is protected by their classmates having had the vaccine.

Imagine if everyone stopped vaccinating their children? Then look up how many children used to die or end up disabled for the rest of their lives because vaccines didn't exist. We're heading in the wrong direction with vaccine uptake as it is because people think they know better. It's alright people coming along and saying "well I didn't vaccinate my children and they're fine". Of course they are fine because everyone around them protected their children by vaccinating their own.

Why would you think your "research" was actually better than the actual scientists, professionals etc that have done the actual research into vaccines and illnesses?

At this time 15 years ago I was sat in ITU with ds planning a christening on advice of the consultants. He had RSV and at that time there was no vaccine.

in the last year there has been a lot of progress of getting a vaccine for RSV and it makes me happy that when that is rolled out it will prevent other children suffering like ds did (and still is!) and other parents going through the utter hell I did.

why would you take the risk with your child’s life when you have a choice to prevent them being in that situation?

i’ve done my own research on whether i should be vaccinating my newborn

So what qualifies you to do your own research?

A bachelor's degree in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, or microbiology is typically required to qualify for a research assistant role in vaccine research and development. However, as you progress in your career, pursuing postgraduate research study at the honours, master's, or PhD level may be necessary.....

Or have you been relying on Dr Google?

When Andrew Wakefield came out with his stories I asked a couple of people I knew who grew up in developing countries about childhood vaccines being given when they were growing up. They told me about family members who were children who died due to lack of vaccination.

I then spoke to older people , some who are now deceased as they would be 90+, about the same thing. They again told me about family members who died in childhood due to lack of vaccination.

I then met my DP who told me about the distress of parents he met who had been originally against childhood vaccination until their baby or young child caught a disease, ended up in hospital and ended up with a disability.

It’s definitely not about wanting to vaccinate my baby at all, because of course i want the very very best for them. Like i said it was more covid opening my eyes a little bit more and wanting to know what it is we are putting in our bodies - I was just curious as to why ‘anti vaxers’ feel so strongly if that makes sense

You can read Roald Dahl's essay about losing his 7 year old daughter Olivia to measles, as he has more immediate personal experience than any of us do: https://leadingsteps.com.au/leading-steps-news/pejejrusfjg95vs4zkjnv7vr0suy1e

Well said

I am skeptical of the way childbirth is dealt with by the medical profession (having systems in place rather than a tailored approach, high induction rates etc). So not a blind follower of everything I'm told.

BUT vaccines are a good thing, and a population-wide approach makes sense for disease prevention. It's not just for your child, it's for the safety of others. And I do not know of a single person who has had a problem with childhood vaccines.

What's your particular concern?

Thank god your kids were protected by other parents who had the sense to vaccinate. They don't know how lucky they are. It's a shame their own parent couldn't do the same.

I kind of understand where you are coming from. I know I had a rotten pregnancy and birth and DS was quite poorly when he was born. I was just coming to terms with it all then felt like I was being flung into what felt like a conveyor belt of checks and vaccinations, and it seemed a bit overwhelming. You’re being asked to have all these vaccinations administered to your tiny newborn. Then as a previous poster refers to, there was the MMR controversy.

I did have second thoughts about whether to have DS vaccinated but did go through with them all according to schedule and don’t regret my choice. He was relatively illness free throughout childhood apart from chickenpox which the UK doesn’t vaccinate against anyway.

I haven’t used anything medication or anything during pregnancy or childbirth but that was purely because I didn’t need to.
I have relied on the Nhs as treatment however in the past and have never thought to question it then - so that’s a good way of looking at it

When you say you've done your own research, what on earth does that mean?

Yes, literally just google which is why i’ve come on here as I know other people will be far more qualified to answer.

Google is very vague and is kind of you absolutely should vaccinate, or you shouldn’t, there’s not a lot of grey area.

Anti-vaxxers feel so strongly because they are very badly informed and wilfully ignore the overwhelming scientific evidence.
if you truly want what’s best for your child, you would vaccinate them.
I really wish you could travel to other countries and see the horrors inflicted on families and babies due to a lack of vaccines. Death and disability. We are so lucky here

Just crazy and very scary that you would even think about not vaccinating your child.

What did covid open your eyes to? The covid vaccination saved thousands of lives and allowed us to return to (something like) normality. It was an overwhelming success.

I think you need to look carefully at the credentials of the authors of whatever material you’re reading about the covid vaccination. Are they scientists? Are their claims peer reviewed? Are they promoting a book, lifestyle or product?

But the bottom line is they say you want the best for your baby. The best and only way to protect her from these illnesses is vaccination.

Who cares why anti vaxers feel so strongly? I don't know why that would factor into your decision at all tbh.

Speak to your GP and make your choices from there.

Well, there IS no grey area, OP! Vaccinating a child could save its life, or the life of another child. Anything else is conspiracy nonsense tinfoil hattery.

I think there are many different kinds of anti vaxxers, who have different reasons for their beliefs, but what is common to all of them is some kind of feeling that they know better, that the wool is being pulled over our eyes, and a lack of understanding of how vaccines work, are tested, and are privileged enough not to know or care to learn about the effects that not having vaccines will have. ("My kids aren't vaccinated and are healthy..." ignoring herd immunity gained through....vaccination).

You don't find anti-vaxxers in countries where these diseases are still endemic and killing unvaccinated children. They can see the consequences first-hand if they don't vaccinate.

I’m not too sure, it’s hard to put it into words and i know that sounds ridiculous. I just wanted to make sure I had really looked into it - as the covid anti vax tribes really did get into my head.