Holiday vaccines while pregnant

[Macaroons]

Is it a good idea to have jabs while pregnant? We booked a holiday to Maldives while TTC-ing and I'm now 6 weeks pregnant, will be 9-10 week during holiday. Will be going to GP for advice tmr but just thought I'd pick your brains here. Some website said wait 4 weeks till you try to get pregnant after vaccinations, what would you do if you were me? (I thought Maldives is a popular destination for pregnant women - last relaxation holiday before baby is born? Wonder if they had vaccinations)

Hi, I went morocco when 7 weeks preg and the only one I didn't have coz pregnant was the typhoid one.
Can't remember what other ones I needed, sorry.
I couldn't have the vaccinations at the reg drs but went to a specialist clinic.

If you're up to date with all childhood vaccs then you would be advised to have Hepatitis A vaccine and possibly a booster of diphtheria, tetanus and polio. Typhoid vaccine can be given in pregnancy but isn't really needed for a package holiday to the Maldives.

Both of these vaccinations are inactivated and safe in pregnancy. You only need to wait 4 weeks after certain live vaccines before trying to conceive. Hep A and DTP aren't live.

What vaccinations do you need for the Maldives? I don't recall having any when I went (non-preg) but maybe I was just up to date anyway.

I haven't seen an doctor or nurse yet but looking on the web there are some mentions of hep A, hep B and tyhpoid . I remember I had something when I went to egypt in 2008, but forgot what it is. I've switched GP a few times in the past year due to moving houses so I hope they have my record! We will be staying in a resort and reading tripadvisor feedbacks there's no mention of getting ill / stomach bugs, so that should be ok right? will ask nurse / GP tmr. Having these vaccines seem to pose some risk

I wouldn't offer someone typhoid or Hep B for a low risk holiday to the Maldives.

Hep A is advised for most foreign travel these days, but if you've had 2 doses of Hep A then you are covered for 20 years.

Hi my DH and I were travelling in China and Tibet whilst I was 6/7/8/9 weeks pregnant. In the few weeks previous I had Hep A, Hep B, Diphtheria/Typhoid etc booster and Rabies vaccine. Was confident in all of these as none are 'live'. I also subscribed to the flu vaccine on arriving home.
My thinking is that the possibility of MC would increase exponentially if you were to contract any of these serious illnesses and as their is no evidence suggesting these are in any way harmful to the baby, I'd rather be safe if leaving the UK.

Ask your doctor. They may not feel comfortable vaccinating you when pregnant. That's why generally, you would get the vaccinations BEFORE ttc if you know you're going to travel.

Sorry, having a grumpy day!

Now, afaik, there are no vac that are "safe in pregnancy" because they are not tested on pg women for obvious reasons.

Use of some vaccines accumulated enough data to see if the risk in pg is significant or minimal, but you really need to look at individual vac and discuss this with the gp, who would probably refer to the manufacturer's guidelines.

sorry, flu vac is considered not only "safe" but also recommended, but i do not think it is true of most other.

i had a mmr vac when i was pregnant (not knowingly of course) and this is what i was told by the gp.

I'm pregnant, 26 weeks, and going to thailand next week, yay! I was booked in to have my hep A booster, as I had all the jabs last year, but they told me to wait until I was further along in the pregnancy, I was about 12 weeks then.

So, I went the other day to get it, and they pretty much advised me not to. The nurse called the manufacturer of the hep A vaccine, they said that they wouldn't advise to have it, because they haven't done any research on it's effect on pregnant women. There may be no evidence that it is harmful, but that's only because they haven't tried to find any!

So, because I had the original vaccine last year, the nurse said just to be careful what I eat etc. I think if I had insisted she would have done it, but it would be a bit of a worry, and because I had it last year I'm going to go without. I was a bit irritated tbh, because I had rearranged my whole day to go in for the bloody thing, and my GP had told me it would be ok because it's not a live vaccine.

Anyway, my situation is slightly different to yours, I don't know what jabs you have had in the past, and it really will depend on where you're going and what kind of places you'll be staying. Just go ask your GP, and talk to the nurses as well, they may not want to do it for you regardless of what the GP tells you. I had another appt to get it done, and they nurse flat out refused to do it for me because she hadn't looked into it. Couldn't be bothered to either, apparently!

Have a wonderful holiday, I plan to!

I wouldn't have vaccinations while pregnant. Also, when we went to the Maldives, our GP advised that no vaccinations were required anyway.

Thanks all for sharing your views. I'm not too keen to have any vax to be honest but will see what GP / nurse says tmr. I think staying at a resort sounds reasonably safe food-and-drinks-wise, and I think I had some jabs for my Egypt trip in 2008. So looking forward to this holiday

Speak to ur practice nurse. I went Cuba in Feb and had to have Hep A vacc which required a 2nd shot 6 months later. I wasn't allowed the 2nd one cos I was pregnant. Deffo ring and ask

I am going off to the BVI's in 2 weeks hep a and b were advised but not essential. Weighing up the risks I decided not to have them as feel as long as I am super cautious about what I eat and drink I can avoid most of the risks. Wasn't keen on having the injections in pregnancy just to much of the unknown.

Thanks all for your reply and sharing your experience.

Just got back from the clinic. Had I not been pregnant, the nurse would have suggested tetanus, hep A and typhoid. And because I'm pregnant, the nurse wouldn't give me any jabs. I said I had some jabs before my Egypt trip and I believe the food and drinks in Egypt is probably not as hygienic as those in Maldives, and she agreed. She said staying in resorts in Maldives and having food and drinks within the resort should be fine, to be on the safe side, only drink bottled drinks, and brush teeth with bottled water.

For those of you going on a holiday soon, enjoy :)