Whooping cough

[Namechanger2735]

Maybe I spend too much time online but I was under the impression others around you could get the vaccination as it's best for everyone to be protected against it for the baby's sake..so I sent baby's dad to the doctors to get it and he got laughed back out.
Apparently it's only for pregnant women??

Vaccinating you vaccinates the baby, so no need to do anyone else.

It's given to pregnant women so that (in simple terms) it vaccinates the baby before it is born and offers them better immunity until their jabs at 8 weeks old.

Op was that an American website? I’ve seen having other people (DH, grandparents etc) vaccinated suggested on at least one US site. That isn’t, as far as I am aware, recommended at all in the UK so perhaps that explains it?

Apparently Australia have different guidelines so that must be where I read it..but I definitely read about grandparents etc getting it

Was it the Baby Bumps section of Reddit?

One thing I’d say about the US forums are that generally the contributors are EXTREMELY risk aware- you’ll see people freak out over safe eating guidelines and over analyse every potential risk which wouldn’t trouble the average UK mumsnetter. OBs over there advise mums that everyone who is likely to get close to their baby should have the whooping cough and flu vacs, but it’s not as if there’s a huge difference in the UK and US whooping cough stats showing affected babies who’s mums had the vaccination themselves.

That sounds about right, it may have been that that I read. So strange how distance makes such a difference in people's beliefs

Not distance, but difference in healthcare systems. Australia and the USA don't have socialised healthcare systems like the NHS. Vaccinations are paid for by people's health insurance over there whereas NHS-funded vaccinations need to be considered with a cost-benefit analysis considering the benefits at population level.

That's also why vaccinations such as chicken pox are routine in USA and Australia but not here in the UK - it is not good value for money at a population level.

Other family members often get the flu shot to protect baby as children don't get the flu shot before 2 years usually. But the whooping cough one is purely so you can pass immunity on to baby via the placenta. Your baby will get vaccinated at 8 weeks, so that offers the initial protection up until 8 weeks when whooping cough is especially fatal. Your dh or gp's getting it really would have no effect because presumably baby should already have immunity from you if you get vaccinated. But it's probably the flu shot you're thinking of and if you have a partner who is particularly at risk of flu (like they work in health care, etc.) I would consider him getting it next year (it's a bit late this year as flu season is already in full swing and you're still pregnant).

And Buxbaum is right about cost-effectiveness. Vaccinations are different in privatized health care systems because they aren't based on cost-benefit analysis. In the U.S. you get the chicken pox vaccine if you want it because you pay for it and your doctor makes money off it as does your insurer (by raising your rates for using extra services). So more vaccinations = good because it's profit generating, even if they make little impact on the overall health of the population (in fact, in the case of chicken pox, there is some evidence they may cause problems later on when immunity wears off and people don't remember to get re-vaccinated as adults, which is bad for people's health, but good for the health care system as it makes even more money). But on the NHS, treatment is only offered when research shows that it's cost effective, or good value for money and doesn't ultimately cost the NHS more but not improve health. So it's just a different system. Having lived in both, we definitely get the better deal here!

My OH got the vaccination no bother. The nurse commented that it wasn't usual to see dads in but she didn't have a problem with it. He lives in the Republic of Ireland though, and had to pay €20 which we didn't mind.