Whooping cough reaction

[Mangomammy]

I’m currently 19 weeks pregnant, the “norm” would be for me to getting the whooping cough vaccine at the same time as the flu, which wouldn’t be for a few months yet anyway. Here’s my issue;
As a baby my brother took a serious reaction to his first whooping cough vaccine, couldn’t get the second dose, and as a result I never got mines as the risk of reaction was too high.

Do I risk getting the vaccine now?

What did your doctor or midwife say when you asked them?

My midwife said that all pregnant women are advised to take it…but she’d never heard of anyone not being able to get it before. She was a bit clueless tbh, unless it was “normal” she didn’t really have any answers.

I wasn't allowed to have it as a baby die to fitting when born following a traumatic birth. My DSis was given it to help protect me even though she had an allergy to eggs and wouldn't normally have been allowed to have it. This was over 50 years ago so I assume the way the vaccine is manufactured might have changed to no longer include anything derived from eggs.

I wish I had been given it later though as I caught it in my 30s when pregnant. It really wasn't a pleasant experience.

I would try and discuss it with your GP. Do you know why your brother had a severe reaction? Does he have any allergies? How long ago and has the vaccine changed since?

I recently had mine and I was a bit concerned because when I turned up the nurse just said casually that it was actually a combined vaccine now with a booster for tetanus, diphtheria and polio. This worried me because I had a SEVERE reaction to those when I was a baby and never had any vaccs until I went to Indonesia and had to have them. I had to sit in a room being observed for 2 hours to make sure I was OK and I was.

That said, I did feel very faint and sick a few hours after having this combined whooping cough vaccine...nothing major but it appears I'm still sensitive to something they put in it. I was more bothered by the fact no one made it clear that was what I'd be offered.

Your call essentially but don't rush and maybe see if you can talk to your regular GP?

You have weeks to do some research, ideally you should have it by 32wk. They can keep you in for monitoring if you are worried about potential reactions.

Way back I was not given MMR due to my brother having seizures and then I was hospitalised with rubella, I had the MMR at 4.5yr with no problems. The benefits of the whooping cough vaccine to baby outweigh any risks imo and I've had it in 5 pregnancies with no ill effects.