To get the flu vaccine and whooping cough or not?

[Rose58]

Did anyone opt out of these? I've never had flu before and don't like the thought of putting medicine in my body when I am pregnant if not completely necessary.

Yes bittapitta hence why I said that I would probably still get the flu jab next time around.

I hardly felt the flu vaccine (and pre pregnancy I hated injectiobs, catching sight of one on tv made me tearful) and had no ill effects from it. The whooping cough one made my arm a little sore. I had whooping cough when I was about 8 and it was awful, I coughed until I was sick for a couple of weeks and I didn't even have it that badly, there was no way I was going to risk my newborn catching it. And flu isn't just feeling shitty for a few days. People die from the flu, in this country. Young babies would have a very difficult time coping with it.

Neither vaccine guarentees 100% protection but you would be selfish not to have them. You are protecting your baby and protecting yourself from how devastatingly guilty you'd feel if your baby caught either of these things and you didn't do anything to help prevent it.

I was going to add, my healthy, fit dh caught flu a couple of years ago. Knowing how ill he was meant I didn't even consider not getting the vaccine as it would probably have hospitalised me as a pregnant woman.

They are not "medicines" OP. they are vaccines - bodyguards to secure your baby from killing diseases. Your logic is a bit like saying I've never had an accident before and drive really safely, and accident rates are still low around where I live,mso why do I need a car seat for my baby?

They have been introduced for a reason. The nhs isn't out there to do shoddy research and endanger people's lives.

I think it's totally fair enough to ask the question- not remotely daft in my opinion. I'm a pharmacist and have these kinds of conversations regularly in terms of the risk/benefit ratio. I'll be having both myself without a doubt. Hope you're finding the responses helpful OP.

But why would you trust random people in the Internet over the medical professionals that have recommended it.

I had whooping cough when I was pregnant with DD in 2012, in the last 'cycle'. I had the vaccine but it was too late. Not only did I feel horrendous and pulled muscles in my stomach before I went into labour, once I'd had DD I could rest her on my chest and cough and she'd sleep through it because she was so used to it in utero.

The first time we went out after she was born, DH thought he was going to have to call an ambulance for me. Every time I took a breath of cold air, it would trigger another coughing fit - along with classic 'whoop' noise (which I think was the point at which we realised that it was actually whooping cough, not a particularly persistent chest thing). For over a year afterwards whenever I had a coughing fit I would vomit.

If my immunity isn't intact for this pregnancy I will have the immunisation again. Being that unwell definitely affected my feelings about the end of my pregnancy, and the first 6 weeks of my new baby's life.

I was told by my midwife that the reason they give the flu vaccine, isn't to pass immunity onto baby, it's to protect you, as a vulnerable person. Flu during pregnancy can Lead to complications such as pneumonia which can be detrimental in pregnant women.

I had WC vaccine and flu vaccine and I'm booked in for the flu vaccine again in a couple of weeks.

My asthmatic 2yo will also be getting the flu vaccine.

The vaccines are a small price to pay for healthy mum and baby imo!!

Pregnancy reduces your immune system esp mid trimester. I thought if you have had similar viral illnesses in the past, you develop some immunity, so the fact you have never had flu would concern me. If you did get it, you could be very unwell.

Whooping cough vaccine is to protect your baby.

As pp said I wouldn't think of it as putting something in your body, instead preparing your body by getting your immune system ready to respond to flu or whooping cough if needed.

Mooley can I ask why you're booked in again for another flu vaccine?

I almost died of whooping cough as a baby and forty years later, my mum tears up when she talks about it. Flu isn't just the sniffles, it kills - and it particularly kills pregnant women. I can't think of a reason not to protect yourself and your baby

It is absolutely necessary. Vaccinations save lives.

I'm a doctor. I my first year as a consultant I treated a 38 week pregnant woman with flu. She deteriorated before my eyes, we had to refer for a crash section and ITU. Baby made it she didn't. I still remember her vividly & hear from her GP occasionally who lets me know how the baby is getting on.

I have had my flu jab for years as an NHS worker - yes they got the guess of strains wrong last year (they have to try and predict the strain 18 months in advance) but even a slight improvement in immunity is better than none.

My Mum didn't vaccinate me against whooping cough because she was worried by vaccines, I will very much be getting mine done. I will do whatever it takes to keep me and bay safe and that includes accepting evidence based options like vaccination.

I haven't had the flu vaccine, I didn't realise it was advised!
I'm 36 weeks now but should probably still book an appt to have it..I suppose I don't particularly want to have it with a newborn either!

lemon flu vaccine is only advised in winter months as far as I know, that's why you wouldn't have been told.

Lemon my understanding is that GP offices are only getting their winter stocks in now - just ask and you'll be scheduled in as a priority. I'm having mine at the first opportunity - next week at 35 weeks.

I personally am not going to have the flu vaccine. I had it last year and had a very painful swollen arm for a week, they then announced a few months later that it was completely pointless as they had picked the wrong flu strains. There was a study recently that showed if you vaccinate 100 people against flu and take a group of 100 people not vaccinated, then the non vaccinated group only had 1 more case of flu per 100 people then the vaccinated group! Flu sucks but the vaccine really does not protect against it!
I will have the whopping cough vaccine but only at 36 weeks, which is the latest you can have it. I am a vet and I have studied immunology as part of my degree. I have seen horrible vaccine reactions in animals and I have no intention of exposing my baby to unnecessary chemicals.

I am almost 25 weeks pregnant, had the flu jab about 2 weeks ago. Didn't feel ill from it but my arm was very swollen and after 4 days I had to return to the doctor who said I'd had a reaction and they dressed my arm.
Prior to pregnancy I paid for the flu jab in Sainsbury's every year for the past 4 years and it was absolutely fine and I'll continue to do so in the future. I had flu 5 Christmases ago and literally could not function. It was the worst week of illness of my life and I remember even thinking I wanted to die! It felt like my body was a burning flame with ice cubes trapped in my brain. I lost about a stone (only weighed 8.5 anyway) and full recovery took about a month. Imagine contracting that whilst pregnant I know the jabs not 100% effective but you still want to know you did everything you could to prevent it

sidge think I'm booked in again because it's a new flu season so a different strain (I also queried this with my midwife). I'm not due until the end of October so I think they're just being cautious. I'm not complaining. My father died suddenly of pneumonia so I know how potentially lethal it can be. I just won't take the risk especially this late into my pregnancy!

The whooping cough jab is given in late pregnancy so it triggers your immune response and that passes to the baby.

In 2012, 14 babies in Britain died of whooping cough when they were still too young to have the vaccine themselves. In 2013 it was 7, and in 2014 it was 3. Whooping cough is cyclical, there's generally more about and it's about due an increased year as it's 3 years after the 2012 spike.

If you do not want your baby to have the transferred maternal protection to cover that period, that is your choice.

Proper flu is a miserable disease to have (it took me a full three weeks to recover, in a young healthy non-pregnant state). It is more serious in pregnancy. Yes, it does depend on the prediction of dominant strains being accurate. Last year's jab was effective, but not against the dominant strains in circulation. That was unusual, as the jab contains several strains and it's rare for the predictions to be totally off. There will be flu in circulation (the northern hemisphere 'season' is autumn-spring as it passes more readily in cool, damp conditions, though can occur at any time) and again it is your choice whether you want to be protected against the predicted dominant strains. Not having had flu before is no indicator of your likelihood of getting it this season.

Mooley I don't blame you for taking all the precautions you can!

So did you get a flu vaccine very early in pregnancy for the last flu season?

Hi sidge yeah I had it in Nov 14 but sadly lost my baby at 11 weeks with that pregnancy and when I fell pregnant again in Jan/Feb I was already covered for that season.

I sore arm is a small price to pay imo. I would rather know I'm doing everything I can to protect myself and baby. Everyone is different though!

Flu almost killed me when I caught it then developed a secondary chest infection then pneumonia. I was a healthy 20 year old - no underlying health conditions whatsoever. So I thoroughly recommend the flu jab, especially since you're more vunerable to secondary potentially lethal infections while pregnant. I am 35 weeks pregnant now and had it 2 weeks ago. I had a sore arm for a week but that was it.

I also had whooping cough vaccination for the sake of my baby. I had the vaccination 2 years ago in my last pregnancy and both times had a sore arm for a few days and that was it. Small price to pay to pass some immunity on to my babies. Look at the video above of a baby with whooping cough - it is absolutely heartbreaking. Babies die from it and there have been more cases of it in the last few years.

People are very blasé about flu.

the last time I had flu (as a healthy, fit, 32 year old, running several times a week and in great shape) it laid me up in bed for over a week, and I was sick for weeks. Over Xmas :(

The time before that I had it, I ended up with pneumonia, very poorly indeed.

It's rare that they get the prediction for the vaccine so wrong - their success rate is remarkably good when you think about the scale of the challenge. Last years vaccine was not, however, completely pointless. On a population level, a few percent fewer cases translates to lives saved. It also reduced the severity of symptoms - that alone can save lives.

I would urge everyone, but especially pregnant women, to get a flu jab every year. You are not "putting harmful chemicals into your body" you are instructing your immune system to recognise an extremely nasty pathogen.