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Original poster

Anxiety after Boostrix IPV

81 replies

Mia098 · 30/11/2023 11:22

Hello. a week ago I had the vaccine boostrix ipv (diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and polio). and I've had so much anxiety since taking it because I'm so afraid that the fetus has been damaged by the vaccine. I can't relax, sleep, and I cry every day and regret taking the vaccine. I feel so stupid and that I should have thought much longer about the vaccine than I did.

I just listened to the doctor but should have done more research myself. I feel so stupid and angry at myself :( I will never be able to forgive myself if my child gets hurt because of me..

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
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SJ456 · 01/12/2023 19:45

Mia098 · 01/12/2023 19:40

@bringmelaughter thank you for your answer. yes, I have spoken to a doctor and a midwife regarding the vaccine, but none of the doctors I have spoken to now after taking the vaccine feel that it was necessary for me to take it. so now I feel like I've injected something into my body completely unnecessarily and I'm very scared for my baby.

Have you taken the vaccine during pregnancy?

It is offered to everyone in the UK and US as standard practice and it has a high ish uptake.

Where are you from OP? It seems strange your midwife not endorsing a vaccine that is so recommended

Original poster
Mia098 · 01/12/2023 19:54

@SJ456 thank you for your answer. I'm from another country, and here they've just started recommending it to pregnant women. and I didn't know that until after I had taken it, when I started reading about the vaccine.

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Original poster
Mia098 · 01/12/2023 20:16

@SJ456 but I have read here on mumsnet that several people have been to the midwife and doctor, and when they have said no to the vaccine, the midwife has also said "I wouldn't take it either". and it scares me because if the healthcare wouldn’t want to take it, it seems scary that we should take it.

OP posts:
Leona46 · 02/12/2023 00:11

The 4 in 1 vaccine is the same one every pregnant woman and even everyone in England that has been vaccinated as a child has received on the NHS. In England, this is the one we are offered, Boostrix IPV. It sounds like the majority of replies to OPs posts are from people in England, where the vaccine has been rolled out fully and tested for many many years.

The effect of whooping cough on children is awful, and in my opinion scarier than any vaccine. The more people we have avoiding vaccines, the more likely all these childhood killer diseases are going to come back stronger and affect more children.

NHS link for the 4 in 1 Boostrix IPV, pregnant women get the same one as children get later on https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/4-in-1-pre-school-dtap-ipv-booster/

nhs.uk

4-in-1 pre-school booster overview

Find out about the 4-in-1 pre-school booster vaccine, which can help protect your child against diphtheria, polio, whooping cough and tetanus.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/4-in-1-pre-school-dtap-ipv-booster/

Original poster
Mia098 · 02/12/2023 12:14

@Leona46 thank you very much for the information. I hope I feel better about the decision in time. it feels scary to vaccinate during pregnancy because it wasn't something we did before, and now it's suddenly safe. it's scary not knowing if the vaccine could affect my baby in any way. Have you had any vaccinations during pregnancy?

OP posts:
MargotBamborough · 02/12/2023 12:23

I had it in both my pregnancies and both my kids are absolutely perfect, OP.

I had to ask for it with my first because it wasn't yet standard practice in France where I live, but by the time I was pregnant with my daughter two years later they had decided everyone should be doing it.

Original poster
Mia098 · 02/12/2023 12:27

@MargotBamborough thank you for your answer. you were never afraid that the vaccine could harm the child? is it normal to take the vaccine during pregnancy, and do you have boostrix ipv (the one with polio)?

OP posts:
MargotBamborough · 02/12/2023 12:28

Mia098 · 02/12/2023 12:27

@MargotBamborough thank you for your answer. you were never afraid that the vaccine could harm the child? is it normal to take the vaccine during pregnancy, and do you have boostrix ipv (the one with polio)?

Yes it was that one. I wasn't afraid, no. Vaccines are proven to be safe and effective. There is no evidence of babies being harmed.

MargotBamborough · 02/12/2023 12:29

I would be a lot more afraid of my baby getting whooping cough though.

Original poster
Mia098 · 02/12/2023 12:39

@MargotBamborough thank you very much. I hope I will eventually feel that way too. I think that there may not be a high probability of whooping cough, but as you say, it is horrible if the baby gets it.

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MargotBamborough · 02/12/2023 12:42

@Mia098 If probability is important to you, think of it this way. The probability of your baby getting whooping cough is much, much higher than the probability of your baby being harmed in any way by a vaccine. And babies can and do die from whooping cough. Getting vaccinated in pregnancy significantly reduces the risk of your baby contracting whooping cough before their first vaccinations. So you have 100% done the best thing for your baby.

Newnamesameoldlurker · 02/12/2023 12:45

Hi OP, I'm sorry you are feeling so anxious- can you get a referral to your perinatal mental health team? I think this is an anxiety problem, not a vaccine problem- reassurance doesn't work for anxiety and actually fuels it- posters here have given you lots of reassurance but your replies indicate this hasn't settled your mind. Good CBT could help- keep talking about how anxious you're feeling to your healthcare team. Hugs to you.

Original poster
Mia098 · 02/12/2023 16:45

@MargotBamborough thank you so much. I really hope so.

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Original poster
Mia098 · 02/12/2023 23:09

@Newnamesameoldlurker thank you for your answer. I understand what you mean, but I think it's the vaccine I'm afraid of, and the consequences of having taken it. so it's good to hear that others have taken the vaccine and had healthy children.

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Original poster
Mia098 · 02/12/2023 23:41

@dementedpixie Thank you.

OP posts:
cheesychips15 · 03/12/2023 13:03

I've never heard of anyone regretting taking the vaccine, but here's an article from someone who really regretted not vaccinating https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/24/wish-my-daughter-vaccinated

And yes I had the boostrix ipv in my first pregnancy and am planning to have it this time too. I've also had flu and covid jabs in pregnancy - the medical community really wouldn't recommend these things for pregnant women if they weren't confident in their safety.

Why I wish my daughter had been vaccinated | Sophie Heawood

Sophie Heawood: My child couldn't fall victim to any of those Victorian sounding diseases such as diphtheria, polio and tetanus, could she?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/24/wish-my-daughter-vaccinated

Original poster
Mia098 · 03/12/2023 13:40

@cheesychips15 thank you very much. and thanks for sharing the story.

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Original poster
Mia098 · 04/12/2023 00:03

@cheesychips15 I hope I feel better about this soon. I feel so alone in having taken the vaccine because I don't know any other pregnant women who have taken it. so it's good to hear that there is someone here who has taken it during pregnancy.

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Original poster
Mia098 · 04/12/2023 10:53

@MargotBamborough @cheesychips15 I also think that I think the vaccine is scary because it has never been offered to pregnant women where I live. it feels brand new, and that scares me.

OP posts:
Mummyme87 · 04/12/2023 11:10

I’m a midwife and had the vaccine in all three pregnancies including the one I’m in now.
midwives and doctors opinions are really irrelevant on this. The evidence is factual, not an opinion.

Original poster
Mia098 · 04/12/2023 12:46

@Mummyme87 thank you for your answer. Yes it is true. it is difficult to know what is best when some doctors recommend and other doctors say that the vaccine is not approved for pregnant women. then it is difficult for someone who is pregnant to know what is safe or not. :/

OP posts:
MargotBamborough · 04/12/2023 12:53

Where do you live, OP?

Original poster
Mia098 · 04/12/2023 13:15

@MargotBamborough In Norway :)

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MargotBamborough · 04/12/2023 13:27

OK well as I said before, I live in France.

Before I had my first baby in 2021 they recommended that women get vaccinated against whooping cough either before or during pregnancy if they are not already to reduce the risk of the woman getting whooping cough in the postpartum period and passing it on to her baby. They recommend that fathers and anyone else likely to have contact with newborns also gets vaccinated. When I raised the fact that in the UK women are advised to get vaccinated during each pregnancy I was told that it wasn't necessary as I had already been vaccinated.

By the time I was pregnant with my second baby the following year the advice had changed and they had started recommending that women get re-vaccinated during each pregnancy even if they are already vaccinated and already immune, because of the protection it provides to the developing foetus which lasts until they are old enough to get their own first vaccinations.

So my best guess is that the UK is ahead of the curve on this point, and other countries are starting to follow what the UK has already been doing for quite a while, but it might still be quite new in Norway, as it is in France.