can I check my immunity to whoopin cough?34wks pregnant

[whatdoithinknow]

I don't like the idea of having a jab which may not be safe in pregnancy but also don't like the thought of my newborn gettin whooping cough. Am thinking of gettin jab afta he is born but have just realised it may be worth while testin to see if I already have immunity? I was v ill at start of pregnancy and had a long lasting cough which I ended up having to go to docs about as I pulled muscles hurt ribs etc. Could that have been whoopin cough? Also why don't they check immunity in all these pregnant women would it cost too much? Can I ask for test? Also can I get my older child aged 8 and dp vaccinated too am in UK?

Having the jab after you give birth won't protect your baby. The theory of having it whilst pregnant is the antibodies will cross the placenta. Otherwise your baby will need to wait until their eight week jabs to begun to get vaccinated.

Yes, you can check your immunity - it involves a blood draw and you may have to pay for it (our GP offers those titer checks for all sorts of diseases). If you have pertussis antibodies, you'll pass them on. If not, I would get the shot a couple of weeks or three before giving birth. There is a FB group for parents of kids who have/had whooping cough this year and the stories are heart breaking (and there are so many....). Let us know what you'll decide!

Thankyou I will ring docs today and ask about it all and let you know what they say. Its so hard to know what to do as no matter how scary whooping cough is when thinking about your newborn its also true we will not know if this vaccine will have any side effects for unborn babies until after :(

The whooping cough vaccination doesn't make you immune! My son had all his vaccinations and caught it! It reduces the risk of catching it and makes the symptoms not as bad as they would be without it! This was news to me I thought they would be immune but no!