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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

HELP- Flu and whopping cough vaccine while pregnant

52 replies

worriedmomtobe1 · 21/02/2019 15:36

Hi mothers of the group,
i have a question which is keeping me worried - i soon have to go for my first scan and will be suggested flu vaccine (recommended by GP) and i am not sure. I have done a lot of research although majority seems to get both these vaccinations during their pregnancy there is a minority that does not and the reasons they have for not getting it makes sense to me. We are injecting into our body things for which there is no 100% guarantee of being safe or working. Also long term effects are hard to judge anyway.
I have read about people loosing heartbeats of their unborn after vaccinations and it has scared me. Please can you help by confirming what you chose and what the outcomes were?
I just to put my mind to rest. My gut feeling is to avoid flu vacinne and get the whopping cough in the 3rd trimester OR not having either...
Thanks alot.

OP posts:

DinoMamasaurus · 21/02/2019 17:02

If it helps I’ve had the flu vaccination for years and years and years paid for privately (except when given at Drs during pregnancy). I started when my Dad was going through chemo and immune suppressed so it just seemed like a good idea for family to do what we could to not get poorly ourselves. I’ve never had any side effects (bar slightly sore arm at injection side). After I had my first baby it made sense to me to have it especially when he was too young to have the flu spray. Yes it’s not a cast iron guarantee you won’t get flu but given how serious flu can be especially in pregnancy I wouldn’t have chanced going without it.

Teddyreddy · 21/02/2019 17:03

As others have said, given flu season is almost over depends of you can still get the jab.

Whooping cough is a no brainer to me - a school friend lost her newborn baby brother to whooping cough. Vaccinating pregnant women has been shown to reduce cases and death rates in babies - why wouldn't you get it?

porridgeface · 21/02/2019 17:06

I didn't have the flu jab but only because it wasn't flu season, if it was the season I would have definitely had it.
Had whooping cough around 20 weeks and no issues x

Original poster

worriedmomtobe1 · 21/02/2019 17:07

It is actually my first time - i havent shared with my family yet as they live in another country and i know they will be sooo excited so i want to wait for the first scan just to be sure that all is well.
Hence i have no one to talk to for now about it - apart from google and articles which actually make you so anxious and confused...

Thank you, this is helping me

OP posts:

DinoMamasaurus · 21/02/2019 17:08

I’ve managed to be pg with mine at the same time of year both times first tri in flu season so that’s when i’ve had it. Defo ask your GP if they would suggest you have it depending on time of year. Maybe they will say you have it later on if end of pc is heading into next flu season? Definitely worth asking them.

Original poster

worriedmomtobe1 · 21/02/2019 17:09

@porridgeface this is what i think i might be doing. What was your pregnancy period?

OP posts:

Melamine · 21/02/2019 17:14

I had flu jab in first trimester - fine. Zero effect. I had whooping cough one at 26 weeks and it made me feel very ill for 12 hours. Both ultimately worth it. But you could probably not bother with flu now as the season is pretty much over. Your call on that!

WildFlower2019 · 21/02/2019 17:21

Think about it logically. Why would the nhs recommend and carry out vaccinations if the risk of them hurting you or baby was higher than the risk of what could happen with flu/whooping cough?

They wouldn't. They wouldn't want to risk getting sued. They wouldn't waste the money on the vaccinations.

HugoBearsMummy · 21/02/2019 17:36

Had all recommended vaccines with both my pregnancies, first outcome is now a perfectly healthy 3 year old boy, second outcome she's still growing strong in my tum at 39+1 weeks and have had a normal pregnancy. I'd accept the vaccinations. The benefits far outweigh the risks.

Curlywurlywooo · 21/02/2019 18:03

Just wanted to pop on and say my midwife recommended I get whooping cough vaccine a week ago and I’m booked for it next week we are coming out of the flu season so she said they probably wouldn’t have any left if flu vaccine and there’s not much risk now anyway. But like you @worriedmomtobe1 I always like to make up my own mind. I’m not anti-vaccine at all, but I do like to know the whys and the wherefores of them. After discussion with midwife and doing my own reading on the risks of whooping cough, I decided it was right for me to get the vaccine, so baby is protected until he/she is old enough to have own vaccines I don’t know what I would have decided if It was flu season, however I was in early first trimester when it was high risk flu time and I made a real effort to use alcohol gel, wash hands, and ate fruit, veg, and old fashioned chicken soup like there was no tomorrow. And (touch wood) I’ve not even caught a cold!

HJWT · 21/02/2019 18:29

@worriedmomtobe1 I had the flu jab due to TTC and my DH did not he was so ill with the flu I thought he was going to die, he passed out whilst in the bathroom and smashed his head of the toilet, he was dead behind the eyes for 15 minutes!! GET the jabs.

I had them last pregnancy DD is 2.5 years and perfectly healthy.

porridgeface · 21/02/2019 19:59

Hey OP, I got pregnant in The November but didn't see a Dr until maybe Feb/ Mar- quite late anyway! X

AvoidingMarking · 21/02/2019 20:09

I had both. First time I'd ever had the flu jab and it was fine. I don't normally get ill but though best to take the extra precaution as I work in a school. The worst period for flu has passed now though I think?

My NHS trust doesn't offer whooping cough until after 28 weeks. I thought that was so the immunity was passed onto the baby for the first 8 weeks of its life.

mussie · 21/02/2019 20:13

@AvoidingMarking the immunity is passed on to baby for the first 8 weeks regardless of when you have the whooping cough vaccine between 16 and 32 weeks. After 32 weeks and protection might be lessened. It did used to be 28 weeks in my area too, went to 16 weeks maybe a year or two ago.

NeverStopExploring · 21/02/2019 20:41

I want to have them as the risks of not having them are far greater however I am having real issues tracking down a flu vaccine to have! Everywhere seems to have the 65+ but not the one I need. I’d recommend getting it from your gp or midwife if offered. I wasn’t offered it

Rememberallball · 21/02/2019 21:45

I have a similar dilemma but for different reasons - reading posts here I think I will miss the issue of the flu jab as I’m due October (but will be delivered in September due to twins and a couple of health issues) and therefore will spend most, if not all, of my pregnancy out of flu season.

However, when it comes to whooping cough vaccine, I was not vaccinated as an infant due to a family member having seizures after infant jabs so GP did not immunise use for DTP and we just had tetanus and polio as they were available individually. The issue I now have is that I was immunised as an adult while doing my nurse training and, having had blood tests before the first immunisation and 3 months after the last one (I had 3 vaccinations each a month apart), my blood titre levels went DOWN not up as they were expected to. I was basically told it was unlikely I’d pick up any more cover than I’d got before.

I find it pointless to be given a vaccine which is unlikely to trigger an immune response in myself and therefore not going to actually protect my babies.

AvoidingMarking · 21/02/2019 22:08

Thank you @mussie. I didn't know that

MamaFlintstone · 21/02/2019 22:10

I had both, and no reactions whatsoever. It was an extremely easy decision for me, the benefits far outweighed the potential risks.

novasglowx · 21/02/2019 22:14

I had the flu vaccine while pregnant. No issues. With you saying you don't know how your body is going to react, are you not planning to vaccinate your baby? You don't know how they will react. These things are recommended to protect you both.

E20mom · 21/02/2019 22:20

I got them. It's much better than getting the illnesses whilst you're pregnant.

spugzbunny · 21/02/2019 22:30

Trust the doctors and not strangers on the internet. I know you want the best for your child but whooping cough is so horrendous and can kill. I think flu jab is season dependent though so you may not need that but ask your GP.

Remember correlation does not mean causation. People's babies do sadly die at all stages of pregnancy and people will naturally look for a reason but it doesn't necessarily mean that the jab caused the miscarriage. It is almost certainly just a coincidence and would have occurred anyway. Very very very few people have a serious reaction to either jabs. Particularly if you have never reacted to a jab before.

Spargle · 22/02/2019 04:45

I wanted to have the flu vaccine early in my pregnancy - I asked about it at 5 weeks, and was told that I would get it at my booking in appointment, and that the surgery didn’t have any earlier slots, anyway. My booking appointment turned out to be after 11 weeks (in early December). The midwife said that they didn’t give out the vaccine, and that we would receive it at the 12-week scan. She said that there was no risk to the baby from the flu vaccine, but that problems sometimes happen anyway, and they preferred it if people didn’t erroneously associate the flu vaccine with a problem which would have happened anyway.

In the end I didn’t get it at the 12-week scan because the nurse who administered vaccines happened to be off that day - I had to either arrange it myself, or return to the hospital on a different day. In the end, I found a local Tesco with stocks in and went there - they do it for free for pregnant women, as do a few other places, including GP surgeries and Boots and Lloyds pharmacies.

Right now I have a rotten cold, and am very glad that I have the flu vaccination - it’s definitely not the worst cold I’ve had, but combined with pregnancy and trying to avoid all the drugs (I’ve just caved and had paracetamol - a 4.30am headache when I can’t be in bed because my coughing will wake DH, who seems to feel worse than I do, is just a bit too much, really!) it is a very uncomfortable experience. I cried making dinner last night because I was just so tired (it was a very simple dinner, and DH had just been shopping, probably feeling worse than me, so it was definitely right that he should sit down). Flu would just be hell, and so dangerous for me and the baby.

I say go for it. If I were in the same position again, I’d probably try to get vaccinated at Tesco straight away - I just turned up, hung around for a bit, got the injection (had to fill in a form so they could inform my doctor, but they didn’t ask to see my maternity paperwork), hung around for a bit more (to check I didn’t have an allergic reaction to it), and left. Very easy.

PBobs · 22/02/2019 04:52

This is a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. Flu and whooping cough vaccines all the way.

Littlemissdaredevil · 22/02/2019 06:38

1 in 11 maternal deaths is due to flu

www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/around-1-in-10-maternal-deaths-due-to-flu/

Valdy · 22/02/2019 06:59

I had both with last pregnancy - got the flu at 7 mo pregnant anyway (it was December, though) and he's a healthy 1 yr old now.

7 mo pregnant now and had both flu and whooping-cough jabs, but now have a fever. I think although I've caught all sorts (only flu last time, but this time have had Norovirus, multiple colds and now a fever - mostly caught from DS1, and baby is absolutely fine) being pregnant with a low immune system, you're bound to catch these things. I would still get them, as clearly the good out do the potentially bad!

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