Worried about whooping cough in the news with newborn twins

[AmalFish]

Hi,
My twins are 5 weeks old and I had a very tough pregnancy with them, i suffered from anxiety and depression during the pregnancy and kind of disconnected from everyone and everything. I didn’t take the vaccines offered to me while i was pregnant because my anxiety made me really indecisive and I was scared to get vaccinated even though i am not antivax. I didn’t get any support while pregnant even though I mentioned my anxiety to the midwives, and my husband is very passive about these things so I was just left to get on with it. My mental health has been so much better since having the babies so i imagine it was antenatal anxiety.
Anyway, I saw the news today about the spiralling cases of whooping cough, I did not even realise this has been in the news and an issue for months as I was very disconnected from the TV or news for months. My babies are due their jabs in just under 3 weeks but now I am sick to my stomach about them catching whooping cough. I really regret not taking the vaccine and can’t think of why I didn’t and why it was not a big deal for anyone that I didn’t- the whole pregnancy is a blur to me now. I have two other kids in primary school (who are fully vaccinated) and I worry about them bringing back the illness from school.
Is there anything I can do? The anxiety about my newborns is just exhausting. Can i get them vaccinated sooner than 8 weeks? Can i get the vaccine now and hope they get antibodies through breastmilk? what are the chances of them catching it.

Thank you.

bump…

You could ask for the vaccine for you. I know from attempts in the past that they won’t bring forward the 8 week jabs. Encourage your school aged children to wash their hands when they get home and discourage everyone from touching your babies’ face, head and hands, especially children.

There's no kind way to say thins, but your decision to reject the vaccine offered during pregnancy means that your babies do not have the benefit of transferred maternal antibodies and are therefore vulnerable.

The two things you can do now are
a) breastfeed, so that if you come in to contact with wild whooping cough, then you will begin to produce antibodies and may pass on some protection to your babies
b) have a babymoon (in the traditional sense) ie cocoon yourself and your babies for the early period before they can be vaccinated themselves, minimising all contact with the outside world.

I don't think you can bring the first jabs forwards (before 6 weeks means they may not 'take' properly) but it might be worth enquiring. And I don't think it's offered to newly delivered breastfeeding women, even if they did not have it in pregnancy, as the antibody transfer is not as effective via breastmilk and takes about 2 weeks to become effective - so would make next to no difference in your case given that your twins are 5 weeks old now.

they only babies I know to have been vaccinated early are babies who have had to travel overseas to countries with high prevalence of disease before the age of 8 weeks ( eg an asylum seeker baby returning to his mothers home country in Africa) …..I have probably been aware of 2 such babies over a career of 20 years working in children’s community at at times being an immuniser….both these babies were over 7 weeks…...in your case it would be a no no….lif there’s a next time, have the jab

All you can do is avoid people holding them and everyone in the family wash hands. Fingers crossed for you. Hopefully you can at least encourage friends to get the vaccine so they aren't in the same position as you.

I feel terrible and so regretful about not taking the vaccine, i can’t even explain why I didn’t take it and it’s eating me up. My anxiety is through the room and I can’t even look at them without crying. I will try to cocoon as much as I can ( considering I have two other children and my husband leaves the house for work there’s a limit)
I am also thinking of getting the vaccine myself now and hoping i can start transferring antibodies through breast milk while their jab kicks in (i read it takes two weeks after they have it).
Apparently the vaccine is licensed from 6 weeks but they don’t give it without a ‘reason’.

Oh love, just try and take a deep breath or ten first.
I can not imagine the terror you must have felt to need to disconnect and isolate like that in pregnancy, and then to feel so lost about making these decisions as well, it sounds very lonely.
In order to address your anxiety now, and make no mistake, it needs addressing, you need to speak to either your health visitor or a GP about these concerns. None of us can tell you what the actual risk to your precious babies is, or what your choices are regarding vaccines. What I do strongly feel from your post is that you need to let people in in real life so they can help you make informed choices. I don't know if shutting yourself and your babies away from the world and other people is the right course of action as this may impact you in other ways. I appreciate the fear caused by what we are reading about whooping cough but I strongly think you need to reach out and talk to someone who is more qualified.