Pregnancy vaccines

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Hi all,
I've just been for a 27 week scan and was recommended to have the whooping cough vaccine. I'd like to hear others' stories, recommendations etc as to whether or not this is necessary.
It's been many, many years since I've had any type of vaccine and have been living a very happy, healthy life so yes, I am a little sceptical of injecting something into my body. I do realise this is more for the baby than for my benefit.

Just have it, it's to protect the baby when it's born. There's a whooping cough outbreak in this country at the moment and you really don't want your newborn catching it.

And yes I had whooping cough and flu vaccines when I was pregnant and no side effects at all

That sounds very hard

But do have vaccines. They are life-savers and general good health won't protect you from these illnesses.

Do they check for immunity for things like German measles?

German measles I'm not sure. I did have a blood test early on in pregnancy that checked for immunity against rubella, chickenpox and toxoplasmosis. I don't see anything regarding any type of measles though.

"I still don't even know where I will be giving birth, meeting the hospital teams here doesn't seem to be as common practise here "
It's not common practice in the UK to meet the team beforehand? And I know which hospital I'm going to, but I've never been in the maternity/labour ward. I've seen multiple midwives for my regular appointments to.
It does sound hard if it's unfamiliar but please get medical advice from professionals, rather than Google or forums.

Get the vaccine. I had whooping cough about 5 years ago and it was horrific, it lasted for months and I was coughing so badly at some points I thought I was going to pass out. I cannot imagine how a tiny baby would cope. I'm pregnant now and got the vaccine as soon as it was offered.

I did have a blood test early on in pregnancy that checked for immunity against rubella

Thats measles.

Rubella is German Measles

I had the vaccine in pregnancy, and DD had the baby whooping cough vaccines when she was 8 weeks or whatever it is.. she still got whooping cough on her first birthday and it was AWFUL. She was really poorly and it lasted 6 weeks. I absolutely dread to think how much worse it would have been if she/I hadn’t had the vaccines, please get it done. Yes it made me feel rough for a few days after the vaccine but having seen a baby and not even a tiny baby, have whooping cough and I assuming hers was a milder case as she was vaccinated, I wouldn’t hesitate to get the vaccine. I’m pregnant again now with DC4 and will be getting it as soon as it’s offered. Apparently they offer a vaccine for RSV too now and I’ll be getting that aswell.

Please don't go to A&E when you are in labour

Whooping Cough has recently killed a few small babies. It’s been in the news a lot.

I had my Whooping Cough jab as soon as it was offered. I’ve also booked my Covid, Flu, and RSV jab. There’s a reason the NHS recommends these jabs, and that’s exactly why I accept every single one I am offered.

I’ve had every vaccine I’ve been offered throughout the course of my life, and I’ve never regretted having any of them.

Sometimes they’re painful, and sometimes they make us feverish, or suffer flu like symptoms, but these side effects are much more preferable to full blown Tetanus, Measles, Meningitis, etc. I’ll take the vaccine over the disease, any day.

@ChocHotolate she is saying that's how it works in her country?

Why is that? I'll have to look into how things work here but that's what my insurance company have said to do. Like I've said I feel absolutely and totally lost with what is supposed to be done here, I feel so unprepared and lost. I just want it to all be over and somehow just have my baby here with me.

I am trying to find out who to turn to. Trouble is here, whenever you go to your GP you're always referred on to someone else, then someone else and it can go on and on. While I can speak Spanish some accents are harder than others to understand and once I get flustered I seem to understand less.
I have now scheduled an appointment next week to hopefully start getting some answers and guidance. I'm genuinely cacking myself thinking ahead to delivery day.

I live in Spain and unless you live somewhere very remote, you can expect better treatment than is available on the NHS. You just have to figure out how it works in your region. Perhaps look for expat parents groups and see if you can meet up with someone who’s had a baby recently. (If you speak one of the local languages, there are many groups available, also run by the health centre.)
In terms of vaccinations, they probably won’t spend much time explaining why you should have them as it’s considered self-evident that they are a good thing.

With that username my guess would be that your from Barcelona? So same as me if that's the case. I'm certainly not remote, thank goodness. I don't spend much time on social media so I rarely reach out to fellow expats, the one time I did regarding antenatal groups I got barely any response so I didn't go down that avenue again. And struggling with social anxiety I'm not that great meeting up with people.
I have found a class to go to in the city, first one is next week so hopefully I can start finding some info to put me at ease a little.

My friend had whooping cough as an adult and it was really bad.

Being healthy doesn't mean you can avoid these things.

Get it, and the flu vaccine too

Have you ever seen a young child with whooping cough?

You really don’t want to.

I was in isolation for a month in the early 1960s, aged 2, my family had to wave at me through a screen for I think about 3 weeks.

Get the vaccine!

Of course it's necessary. This isn't about you.

Please, please get the whooping cough vaccine. It could save your baby's life. Small babies with no protection tend to show they have whooping cough by stopping breathing.

My approach in this pregnancy is taking everything I’m offered, I’ve had RSV and whooping cough and will hopefully have time to get the flu one before I give birth.

In addition to whooping cough vaccine, in the UK there is now an RSV vaccine, plus the flu vaccine is recommended in pregnancy. The schedule in Spain might be different, but certainly worth asking about all 3.
Edited to say, I realise you speak Spanish, but do you have a Spanish speaking friend/partner who could go to appointments with you, so whatever you miss understanding, they might pick up/take notes?

https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/rsv-vaccine/#:~:text=If%20you're%20pregnant%2C%20you,protect%20them%20for%20several%20years.

I had the whooping cough vaccine and flu jab when pregnant. No side effects at all.

Get the jabs and protect your baby.

Yeah, the start of the RSV vaccine roll out is so exciting. Really hope we won't have so many small babies needing breathing support this winter.

She's not in the UK

I know it can be confusing but it is really important to do the vaccines during pregnancy. Ideally in addition to whooping cough, try and have RSV and flu as well (I am pregnant and the NHS just rolled RSV out for pregnant women in the UK). You are protecting your newborn baby for up to the first 6 months when you have these vaccines and they are very susceptible to these nasty illnesses. Particularly with whooping cough, the rates of pregnant women taking it have been falling and the rates of tiny babies getting it and even dying have been rising (10 infants died in the last flu season from whooping cough).