Your baby's first protection starts before birth

Did you know that, during pregnancy, it isn't only nutrients that pass through the placenta to your baby?

The antibodies your body produces can also cross the placenta and offer your baby vital protection in their first months of life, when their immune system is still developing.

This is precisely why the whooping cough vaccine is recommended during pregnancy. When you are vaccinated, your body produces antibodies that pass to your baby, helping to protect them until they are old enough to start their own vaccinations.

This vaccine is recommended between 20 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, and is usually given after your anomaly scan.

Getting vaccinated while pregnant reduces the risk of severe whooping cough by more than 90% in your baby's first months of life, when they haven't yet completed their vaccination schedule.

Imagine your baby is going on a journey. Before they set off, you pack everything they'll need in their backpack. During pregnancy, something very similar happens. As well as nutrients and oxygen, you also send them "protection tools"—your antibodies. The whooping cough vaccine helps to pack that very backpack before birth.

This protection doesn't end at birth. After you give birth, breastfeeding continues to provide antibodies and other defence factors, helping to protect your baby while their own immune system continues to mature. But that's a topic for another time :)