pre - birth whooping cough vaccination?

[PeppermintChaiLatte]

I'm 26 weeks and my midwife wants me to have the whooping cough vaccination in a couple of weeks time. I was given leaflets but feel a bit odd about it as I've never heard of this before. I'm already immunised from childhood; and it does not replace the vaccination they give to baby when they're born. It's not a live vaccine, and I did have the flu jab before Xmas so I guess it's pointing towards having it. Have other people been offered this and what are your views?

Thanks Sidge, but surely only the whooping cough is for the baby's benefit if that's the only thing that passes to the baby as Pinky said earlier, and if I'm already vaccinated for the other 3, it would be unnecessary!

RL20 it can be given up to delivery (and beyond!) but is most beneficial between 28 and 32 weeks.

It can make you feel a bit warm and off-colour so best to have it when you're not unwell.

Oh yes I see what you mean Welshgirl but as there's no alternative then it's all or nothing!

Not ideal, I understand.

Thanks Sidge! You said what I was trying to say :)

No one (not even the developers of the vaccine and certainly no the NHS) can say with certainty that this vaccine is safe in pregnant women. A vaccine needs to be trialed for YEARS to be determined safe and the NHS have only been doing this for two years at best. On that basis I did not have the vaccine. Each to their own.

Even if you have the vaccine in pregnancy, it's no guarantee baby is protected - their immunity is not definite and there have been many babies catch wc despite their mums having the jab

I had it. DD is one and healthy as anything.

Really pleased to be offered it. Whooping cough can kill small babies, and this is the best protection we can afford them at the moment. There is no effective medical intervention that is wholly risk-free, but vaccinations carry far lower risks than the illnesses they prevent. For me it was a no-brainer.

Incidentally I have a sibling and child on the autistic spectrum and DH has individuals on the spectrum in his family as well. If anyone looked into vaccination carefully, it was me. I had no qualms. Or at least, the qualms were no greater the first time I administered Calpol.

there have been many babies catch wc despite their mums having the jab

That is not correct. Cases of whooping cough in young babies have dropped dramatically since the introduction of the vaccine to pregnant women in 2012. I don't have the statistics to hand at home but it is overwhelmingly effective.

Can anyone help me? I'm wondering if I need this vaccination, I was vaccinated 2 years ago in my last pregnancy and try to avoid vaccines if I can because I have had reactions to them. No one jump on me my child and dh and I have been vaccinated but for health reasons need to keep them minimal and the NHS tend to over vaccinate to make it easier to handle large number of patients

The whooping cough jab is for your baby though, so surely having had it in a previous pregnancy won't work for this one?

It is recommended that you have the jab in each pregnancy, regardless of previous doses and when the last one was.

This is to ensure the baby gets the antibody boost.

Bees you have to have it in each pregnancy for the baby to benefit. Whether you have it or not is a choice only you can make based on the reaction you have to immunisations.

Bees, is there any way you can ask for a single WC vax on grounds of reaction? I don't even know if one exists these days, but I appreciate your concerns, so perhaps worth asking in your unique situation?

My understanding is the same as the others, unfortunately. It's necessary for the baby to be in utero at the time to benefit.

There is no single pertussis (WC) vaccine.

Reactions tend to be localised, sore arm and slight temperature. If you have more serious reactions then speak to your GP.

At the moment I'm thinking of missing it, last time I had to be seen at hospital and considering I didn't even give birth in hospital, twos a big deal!

Flu vac wasn't nearly so bad but luckily I escape that one this time due to timing

The NHS seems to vaccinate at any cost to the individual they don't care I understand why and I'm pro vaccination but it's rough when you're the one that gets the shit deal. Especially when heavily pregnant

"Flu vac wasn't nearly so bad but luckily I escape that one this time due to timing"

You can catch flu at any time of year, not just the winter months. I received my flu vaccine a few weeks ago.

The fact that the vaccine is 4-in-1 is neither here not there, it's doing a job to protect the unborn baby so it has some immunity to WC. Some is better than none. I'll take the sore arm any day.

Yeah 'sore arm' wasn't the problem

You can choose not to have it Bees, you have to weigh up the benefits and risks which is all any of us can do really.

Yes I just wondered if the protection from the more recent shot would provide more protection to this child. Would have made the decision easier. I've got time to decide anyway.
I will not be offered the flu jab this time. So it's just the wc to decide

And there's currently no evidence the vaccine is safe in pregnancy or effective at protecting infants under 8 weeks when used in this way. There is no evidence proving otherwise either

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010923/abstract;jsessionid=7E5FEB00648E8FDAC5C3C23EC75D162A.f04t04

Oh I'm sorry the hyperlink didn't work, it's last years cochrane review on the topic

Bees That Cochrane review doesn't say the vaccination programme is not effective, it says there is a need for more data, hence the intention to review material, and is based on statistics from 2012/2013 which was just after the programme was started.

I quote "A Cochrane systematic review on this topic would enable evidence-based conclusions to be drawn to further inform this policy. This is a relevant priority topic that will fill an important gap in the current literature and help to guide international policy."

More recent evidence from the JCVI is here - Continuation of the vaccination programme This is based on data that confirms the effectiveness of the programme, and there is more recent data but I'm not sure whether that's online yet.

It's a personal decision whether to vaccinate or not, but the evidence suggests that it is an effective vaccination programme.

I in no way am interested in starting a vaccines debate, it says there isn't enough evidence either way.
Thank you for your patronising response though.

Patronising?

I thought I might just be reassuring you, or other readers that may have concerns about the whooping cough vaccination programme. Hey ho. I'll bow out now.