To get TDAP BEFORE or AFTER

Jessicalig · May 2014

I never heard of this intill i started reading things on this board. Ask Dr yesterday and said they used to give it after birth and now they are doing it while pregnant. i am not a big vaccine person and will delay them for the baby, so question is should i wait till after and get it post i am going to breast feed so wont baby get benefits that way. Just food for thought ?

jendem8 · May 2014

Before - it produces and passes on anti-bodies to the fetus so that the baby will be more resistant before s/he can get the shot.

KittyMisha · May 2014

There's an awesome website called Evidence Based Birth ( https://evidencebasedbirth.org ) that has lots of information about this. There is some good evidence that getting the shot in the third trimester provides the best protection for your baby.

BlckRoses · May 2014

I got mine before because my niece was born 2 weeks ago and I wanted to be protected for her as well as my baby. Also, if you get it while pregnant it protects your baby more until they can get the shot themselves.

salsy2012 · May 2014

My doctor suggests getting it between 27 & 36 weeks. I'll be getting mine today at my appointment. The protection will pass to the baby until they get their own shot.

shevaCC · May 2014

The scientific evidence is clear enough that the AAP and CDC have changed the recommendation from post-birth to while the mother is pregnant for the best protection for the infant. I have no idea what the opinion of whoever's "science" that convinced you to delay vaccination would be on the topic. If you don't want your child protected from pertussis as best as modern medicine knows how (vaccines) until some unspecified time later, then I guess you could give BFing a shot and hope it works out for you.

rstarrlemaitre · May 2014

It's a new recommendation, that's why. When you get it before, Baby has antibodies to last him or her until the first dose of the vaccine at 2 months.

haliebabyx3 · May 2014

salsy2012 said:

My doctor suggests getting it between 27 & 36 weeks. I'll be getting mine today at my appointment. The protection will pass to the baby until they get their own shot.

This. I will be getting mine at my next appointment.

rockyrollgirl · May 2014

Before, so that the baby will have some protection.

KittyMisha · May 2014

While we're on the subject, I have a tdap question for you ladies as well. I did not get it with my last pregnancy, as my doctor didn't suggest it and I had no idea. However, I work with children and have to stay on top of my vaccinations, so I did get it about 11 months ago. Now they want me to do it again for this pregnancy. I understand the benefits, but I'm concerned about adverse reactions for me, which then might affect the baby in a more acute way than the risk of pertussis. My internet research (yeah, I know) suggests that life-threatening allergic reaction is a rare but possible side effect of stacking a vaccine this way.

So I'm curious, what would you ladies do?

Cat&S · May 2014

Before. I'm doing mine at 32 weeks.

candyland33 · May 2014

I got my yesterday at my 30 week apt.

herecomesthesun · May 2014

32 week appt.

kcatboston · May 2014

KittyMisha said:

While we're on the subject, I have a tdap question for you ladies as well. I did not get it with my last pregnancy, as my doctor didn't suggest it and I had no idea. However, I work with children and have to stay on top of my vaccinations, so I did get it about 11 months ago. Now they want me to do it again for this pregnancy. I understand the benefits, but I'm concerned about adverse reactions for me, which then might affect the baby in a more acute way than the risk of pertussis. My internet research (yeah, I know) suggests that life-threatening allergic reaction is a rare but possible side effect of stacking a vaccine this way. So I'm curious, what would you ladies do?

I got one last April in the hospital after having DD and just got a second shot at my appointment this week. My doctor didn't have a problem with it. I'm glad this time around I'll be protecting LO.

shevaCC · May 2014

@KittyMisha, pertussis is life-threatening in an infant. And much more common than a life-threatening allergic reaction to the vaccine. CDC numbers show nearly 50K cases of pertussis in 2012 with 20 deaths (nearly all infants less than 3 months old). The severe allergic reaction to the vaccine is estimated at less than 1 in a million doses (ie much more likely to be struck by lightening). Unless you've had severe reactions to vaccines before, I'd get it while you're pregnant.

CanadianintheSouth · May 2014

Here is one study regarding timing of tdap vaccine: https://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/56/4/539.long

marathonmommy82 · May 2014

Got it today at 28 weeks

ungraceful13 · May 2014

I got it with DD while pregnant and am going to get it again during this pregnancy. My doctor recommends getting it due to giving the baby some immunity from it.

SLMckinnon · May 2014

I live in canada and currently our public health services clinics are not giving it to pregnant women and that is where I would get the vaccine... So I'm going to try and get my doctor to write me a prescription and have it ordered in to the pharmacy and I'll just pay out of pocket for it. Hopefully that works because I would really like LO to be protected. I am having everyone around us get the vaccine just in case I can't figure out a way to get it myself!

PecanSam · May 2014

My Dr explained to me why it's important to get it before, so I'm getting it before.

But I also don't believe in delaying vaccines for my baby. I would be open to spacing them out if my baby had a bad reaction but otherwise I'm a believer in the major vaccines.

The flu vaccine not so much.

Nuclearcupcake · May 2014

I got it already, it's mostly for babies benefit so even if you had it before becoming pregnant they want you to get it again for baby's sake. That's what my dr told me.