Vaccinations

  • Act now to protect your baby against whooping cough from birth Don’t take the risk
  • whooping cough (pertussis) can be serious for babies and may lead to complications resulting in hospitalisation and even death
  • you can help protect your baby against whooping cough in their first weeks by having the whooping cough vaccine while you are pregnant 
  • you will normally have your whooping cough vaccine around the time of your mid-pregnancy scan (usually 20 weeks) but you can receive it from 16 weeks 
  • vaccination in pregnancy provides very high levels of protection against serious whooping cough disease to your baby until they can have their first vaccine at 8 weeks of age 
  • you need to have the whooping cough vaccine in every pregnancy to boost the antibody you pass on to your baby. You should have the vaccine in each pregnancy even if you’ve been vaccinated before or have had whooping cough 
  • studies from the UK and other countries have shown the whooping cough vaccine in pregnancy is very safe for you and your baby 
  • if you have reached 20 weeks of pregnancy and have not yet been offered the whooping cough vaccine, talk to your midwife or GP practice and make an appointment to get vaccinated 
  • to stay protected your baby will still need to have their routine vaccines which start at 8 weeks of age
Page last reviewed: 26 August 2020
Page created: 26 August 2020