Anyone else NOT getting flu or whooping cough vaccine? Midwife's reaction?

[ps2304]

Hi everyone

Not wanting to start a debate as there are plenty of those threads already!

For personal reasons I will not be getting either jab. I reacted to several jabs as a child and ended up in hospital, the doctor at the time told my mum that my body just doesn't agree with them and goes into shut down mode and that I should avoid them. 'My siblings all had them and are fine.
For this reason I will be declining the jabs during pregnancy. My child will be getting all routine jabs when born, but I cannot have any when pregnant.

For those who didn't get the jabs when pregnant:

Did you do anything differently for the first 8 weeks after birth before first sets of jabs? I.e keep child out of busy places?

Did you do anything extra to avoid colds/flu over winter?

How did you midwife react when you declined the jabs?

Thank you

They weren't even offered when I had my last 2 children and me and my boys have been fine.

I also declined both. Ds here now and totally fine.

I react badly to jabs and always have - big swellings at injection sites that last months etc.

Mw forgot to check whether I had in fact had either so it was a total non issue to be honest!

With whooping cough I would check the public health England figures for numbers in your area so you know the level of risk before deciding and I avoided public transport.

With flu I accepted it in my pg with dd because there was a flu epidemic at the time so needs must.

Around 40% pg women declined the whooping cough jab in 2014 iirc.

In 2015 only just over half pg women took the wc jab:

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3221526/Pregnant-women-urged-whooping-cough-vaccine-cases-disease-rose-24-year.html

You won't be the only person to have refused.

Ok thanks everyone. I was nervous she was going to try and force me to have it!

I had the WC vaccination with both pregnancies but flu didn't even cross my mind to be honest! Midwife didn't even question it.

I had them both last time and the flu one made me vomit and feel like shite. Whooping cough was fine. I will have WC but not flu this time round

I didn't get either with my 2nd baby, but had both with my first- second time I was too poorly each time I was meant to have my jabs- and then time just flew by and I didn't end up having either. My midwife couldn't have cared less! I was more bothered than she was!

Good luck- I hope you have a sympathetic MW who doesn't give you a hard time.

I would ask to discuss with a doctor first, since all vaccines are so different from each other and different from the ones you would have had a generation ago.

To protect your child though, you could encourage the baby's father, grandparents, aunts and uncles, or anyone else who will have close or prolonged contact with the baby to get the flu vaccine and a pertussis booster. In some countries, it is standard that they encourage household immunity like this around newborns. Pertussis immunity in particular can wear off if the person only has had childhood vaccines.

The flu and WC vaccines in pregnancy have different purposes though - the flu one is mainly to prevent you from catching it as flu in even an otherwise perfectly healthy pregnant woman is much more serious and can be fatal. The WC one is to pass along placental immunity to your baby before she is old enough for her own injections. Obviously, each have benedits beyond this but these are the main reasons they are given. So if you don't have flu vaccine, it is extra important for you to practice scrupulous hand hygiene etc during pregnancy.

sycamore I really don't want to have the flu one this time after remembering how ill it made me, is regular hand washing and washing after obvious things like the toilet and changing nappies enough? I don't go out a lot as I have 8 month old so I doubt I would be exposed to someone with flu

Sorry I meant regular hand washing alongside obvious hand washing like after toilet, oops!

I won't take any vaccines in pregnancy. I just say no thanks to the midwife and that's it.

I also stopped getting the flu vaccine about 5 years ago after having it for several years as always, always getting a bloody cold two days later. Coincidence my arse.

I've never had or been offered the flu vaccine while pregnant. I was tested for WC immunity and I was immune. I was exposed to CP while I was pregnant with my dd 8 years ago.. Rang my midwife and she confirmed I had immunity to CP

Whooping cough wasn't offered to me for my first (4 yes ago). I wasn't even aware of it so just carried on as normal