I’m absolutely perplexed at the anti-vaccination movement we have going on in Australia at the moment. But what I also do not understand is the ignorance that surrounds whooping cough. Whooping cough in Australia is at an unacceptable level and recently whooping cough has taken another newborns life. Excuse my frankness but this is absolute bullshit. The general public, parents and even Doctors and nurses need to get educated!
I just finished reading an anonymous blog post where an expectant mother talked of her fear of whooping cough and wanted advice on how strict she should be when it came to people visited her bub. It struck a cord with me because its the same dilemma that I had when I was pregnant.
At about 6 months pregnant I began hearing about the epidemic of whooping cough in Australia.I had the dilemma of deciding how strict I would be when it came to people visiting bub, before he got his first vaccinations. My mum is a nurse and after talking with her she was more than happy to ensure everyone on my side of the family had updated vaccinations; as she knows all too well how close family can infect helpless little babies. Nick’s family also were also on board and they all got their updated vaccinations with no drama.
But what about friends, or people who may just visit once for a few minutes. Was I seriously going to ask them to get vaccinations. HELL YES!! I seriously considered putting a sign on my door saying,
“If you have not had a whooping cough booster recently, fuck off because you are not visiting my helpless baby and infecting him.”
Thankfully, my husband talked me out putting up my sign but we both felt this way. He went and got his needle without a second thought.
I knew that friends and those around me probably thought I was being a bit over the top and I had a little trouble convincing some of them that vaccinations need to be updated. But even now, i don’t regret having a few little fights over it. I think they will all understand why I was so over the top when they have their own children and have done all the reading, research and heard all the horror stories that you tend to hear when you are pregnant. I’d rather have a little argument and annoy someone than be a pushover and let someone unknowingly infect him. Your bub is always going to be your number one priority.
But it shouldn’t be so damn hard to get people to have booster shots. Mums like myself and this anonymous pregnant mum to be, shouldn’t have the dilemma of whether to ask people to get booster. It should be common knowledge that if you are going near a newborn; you need a booster (even if you think you’ve had one a few years ago).
I was shocked that so many people believed that once they had the needles as a child that they never needed to have whooping cough vaccination again; or they thought that the vaccination lasted longer than it really does. In fact, the Tdap booster should be administered at least every 10 years but recent studies suggest that the effectiveness of the vaccination could actually be significantly less, and boosters may be needed by 7 years or even less.
What shocked me more was that actual practicing GP’s told my partner and two of my friends that there was really no need to have a Tdap booster shoot if they had had them at school (which for them was around 10 years ago). That’s right actual medical practitioners said there was no need. I was outraged and felt that storming into their respective surgeries and handing them the most update research on whooping cough. This is outrageous.
Another huge shock. My midwife’s and Doctor said there was no need to get a needle when I was in my third trimester. I’m not a medical professional so I trusted this call and I wasn’t too upset that they wouldn’t give me a needle as they said that as soon as bub was born that it was now hospital policy to give new mums the Tdap booster shot before they went home. So I waited, expecting to get it as soon as Jax was born.
After I gave birth to Jax, I was transferred back to my smaller local hospital and guess what, I had to fight to get the shot. I was told that it really wasn’t necessary and that most mums don’t get it or ask for it at this hospital. I asked and it feel on deaf hears. Nick asked the nurses for me and they took him they would discuss it again with me. Eventually, after 3 different conversations about why I wanted it, the nurse gave it to me just before I checked out. I’m absolutely astounded that it isn’t policy across all NSW hospitals to ensure that immediate family (especially mums) have update vaccinations for whooping cough; given the current outbreak.
No wonder we have a whooping cough epidemic, even medical professionals aren’t aware of the need to vaccinate and keep immunization up to date. It’s ridiculous and I believe that the only way to fix this problem (other than squash the ridiculous anti-vax movement) is to ensure that medical professionals are update on the most current research, enforce uniform policies regarding immunization across all NSW hospitals and most importantly, that the general public are educated about the need to get Tdap boosters regularly; especially if in contact with a small baby. It only takes one contact to infect a baby.So it doesn’t matter if you are only visiting for 2 seconds or everyday. It may not even matter if you have had a shot 5 years ago, it may have worn off already. So if you’re in contact with newborns, get a Tdap booster regularly.