Some vaccines, such as the inactivated seasonal flu vaccine and the whooping cough vaccine, are recommended during pregnancy to protect the health of you and your baby. An inactivated vaccine does not contain a live version of the virus it is protecting against. We are encouraging all pregnant women to have the recommended antenatal vaccines. These will be offered at your regular check-ups with the hospital, but you can also book in with the GP Surgery to have the Whooping Cough vaccination and Flu vaccination (available from September to March).
Whooping Cough (Perussis)
Whooping cough is a very serious infection, and young babies are most at risk. Most babies with whooping cough will be admitted to hospital.
Getting vaccinated against whooping cough is very important especially at the moment, as in recent weeks there have been increased cases of whooping cough in Hackney and Haringey. All children affected are under 11 years old, with cases in newborn babies under four months old. Some have had serious illness requiring hospital admission. The majority of the children with whooping cough were unvaccinated and for babies under 1 year old, their mothers had also not been vaccinated during pregnancy.
Flu (Influenza)
During pregnancy, your immune system (the body’s natural defence) is weakened to protect the pregnancy. This can mean you’re less able to fight off infections. As the baby grows, you may be unable to breathe as deeply, increasing the risk of infections such as pneumonia.
These changes can raise the risk from flu – pregnant women are more likely to get flu complications than women who are not pregnant and are more likely to be admitted to hospital. Having the flu vaccine means you’re less likely to get flu.
