Every expectant mom takes utmost care to ensure the safety of their baby. Apart from eating well, there are a few other things you could do for your baby’s health. Getting appropriate vaccine during pregnancy is one such thing to prevent your newborn from major diseases.
According to a new study, Tdap vaccination during pregnancy can prevent whooping cough in babies. The CDC study was published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Anyone who is skeptical of getting vaccinations during pregnancy should be aware of the study and Tdap vaccine.
Understanding Tdap Vaccine
The vaccine is to protect us from tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, which are considered serious diseases. Tetanus results in painful muscle tightening and stiffness. Diphtheria can lead to heart failure, breathing issues, paralysis, and death. However, both diseases are now rare in the United States. Pertussis or whooping cough causes severe coughing spells. And it troubles your breathing and disturbs your sleeping.
Before the introduction of vaccines, thousands of people died from these diseases. Tdap vaccine is found to be very effective in fighting them. It is recommended that pregnant women should get a dose of Tdap vaccine during every pregnancy to provide critical short-term protection to their little ones from pertussis.
Turns out, newborns are at the highest risk for severe complications or death from the disease. Since newborns do not get vaccinated until they are 2 months old, it is their mothers’ responsibility to provide their babies the much-needed protection. If you still have any doubt about its effectiveness, we have the CDC study to convince you.
Tdap Vaccine Prevents Whooping Cough In Babies
The CDC study was based on the data from 2011 through 2014 on babies younger than two months from six states. It found that Tdap during the third trimester of pregnancy prevented more than three out of four cases of whooping cough in babies younger than two months. Apart from that, Tdap vaccination during the third trimester was 90 percent effective at preventing serious cases of whooping cough that require hospitalization. Those mothers whose babies had whooping cough were less likely to have received Tdap during pregnancy.
Why The Study Is Important
The study reinforces the benefits of Tdap vaccine. Even though the CDC recommends the vaccination for pregnant women, many tend to ignore it. They are still not aware of its benefits. It is evident from the fact that only 49 percent of pregnant women who delivered between fall 2015 and spring 2016 received the vaccine. Given the severity of whooping cough, pregnant women should not avoid vaccination.
Causing uncontrollable, violent coughing in babies, whooping cough is, in fact, a life-threatening disease. To make it worse, it is extremely contagious. Sometimes, babies need to get hospitalized. In this study itself, 65 percent of babies younger than two months who got whooping cough needed treatment in the hospital.
Remember that between five and 15 babies die from whooping cough each year in the United States. And most deaths are seen among newborns. The fact that newborns are too young to receive their own whooping cough vaccines increases the importance of vaccination among mothers.
CDC Recommendation For Tdap Vaccine
Realizing the importance of the vaccine, in 2012 the CDC began recommending pregnant women to get Tdap Vaccine to prevent whooping cough among babies. According to the CDC recommendation, doctors and midwives should administer Tdap at 27 through 36 weeks of pregnancy, preferably in the earlier part of that period.
Any medication during pregnancy is a matter of concern for mothers. The fear of side effects haunts them. Worry not, Tdap is found to be safe during pregnancy. Tens of thousands of women have reported that it was safe for their baby. To give your baby a well-deserved protection, never refuse the vaccine. Get the vaccine and encourage other pregnant moms to get vaccinated.
