Immunisation and pregnancy

Immunisation is available to protect a pregnant woman and her unborn baby. Some infectious diseases can cause serious harm to a pregnant woman or her unborn baby. Ideally, a woman should be up-to-date with her immunisations before she gets pregnant.

Vaccines are available to protect against many infectious diseases such as chickenpox, influenza, measles, mumps, rubella (German measles), diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis), pneumococcal disease and hepatitis B. Serious side effects or allergic reactions to vaccines are rare.

Risks of infectious diseases during pregnancy
If a pregnant woman becomes infected with some diseases, they can harm her unborn or newborn child. For example:

• Rubella – can cause defects of the baby’s brain, heart, eyes and ears. It also increases the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth.
• Chickenpox – can cause defects of the baby’s brain, eyes, skin and limbs.
• Measles – increases the risk of miscarriage, premature birth or stillbirth.
• Mumps – increases risk of miscarriage.
• Hepatitis B – can cause acute hepatitis B infection or cause the mother and baby to become carriers of hepatitis B.

• Visit your doctor for a health check-up.
• Ask your doctor for a blood test to check your immunity, if you are not sure which immunisation you’ve had. If your immunisation status for a particular disease remains unknown, your doctor will usually recommend that you be vaccinated.
• Be fully immunised against chickenpox, influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. If you are not up-to-date with any of these immunisations, your doctor can advise you about ‘catch-up’ doses.
• Consider other people in the household. Ideally, anyone else living in the same house with you should also be immunised. This helps to reduce the risk of disease being passed to your newborn baby.
• Consider having a pneumococcal immunisation if you are at risk. This is recommended for mothers-to-be with risk factors such as cigarette smoking, diabetes or chronic heart, kidney or lung disease.
• Wait to fall pregnant for one month after receiving live vaccines such as the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine or the chickenpox vaccine. Your doctor will advise you about this.

• Fever is a known cause of some birth defects. Since some vaccinations can cause a mild fever, immunisation is usually avoided during pregnancy. However, if the pregnant woman and her unborn baby are at increased risk of contracting a particular infectious disease, the benefits of vaccination are usually considered to outweigh the risks.
• Influenza can cause serious complications in a pregnant woman, which may include the need for hospital treatment. A flu immunisation is recommended and can be given at any time before, during and after pregnancy. There is no evidence that the vaccine will harm the unborn baby.
• Apart from vaccination, a pregnant woman can help reduce her risk of infectious diseases by regular hand washing, avoiding international travel and avoiding close contact with sick people.

• While in hospital, your newborn child will be given an immunisation against hepatitis B.
• Your newborn’s next vaccinations are due at two months of age. In Victoria, routine childhood immunisations are offered to protect your child against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis), polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), rotavirus, hepatitis B, pneumococcal, meningococcal C, chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella.
• If you didn’t update your immunisations before getting pregnant, see your doctor now. If you are fully immunised, it will protect your newborn against infection and reduce the risk of illness and birth defects during any later pregnancy.
• It is safe for both mother and baby if a breastfeeding mother is vaccinated.
• Most premature babies tolerate vaccinations. Be advised by your doctor but, generally speaking, there is no need to delay the childhood vaccination schedule unless your baby is unwell.

• Your doctor
• Your local community health centre
• Your Maternal And Child Health nurse
• The Maternal and Child Health Line is available 24 hours a day Tel. 132 229
• Your local council immunisation service
• Nurse-on-Call Tel. 1300 606 024 – for expert health information and advice (24 hours, 7 days)
• National Immunisation Infoline Tel. 1800 671 811
• Travel clinic
• Australian Childhood Immunisation Register Tel. 1800 653 890

• Immunisation is available to protect a woman and her unborn baby against many infectious diseases.
• Ideally, a woman should have her vaccinations up-to-date before she gets pregnant. This applies to other people in her household as well. Influenza vaccine can be given at any time during pregnancy.
• Generally immunisation is avoided during pregnancy unless the woman and her unborn baby are at risk of an infectious disease. In this case, the benefits of vaccination usually outweigh the risks.

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