Vaccination before and during pregnancy
Which protection belongs before a pregnancy, which vaccinations are possible and recommended during it – and what an infection would mean for the baby.
Vaccination before and during pregnancy follows one simple rule: live vaccines before, inactivated vaccines during as well. Rubella, measles, mumps and chickenpox belong before a pregnancy – ideally with a check of your immunity when you are planning one, because a rubella infection in the first weeks can seriously harm the baby. Whooping cough and influenza, on the other hand, are recommended precisely during pregnancy: the mother's antibodies protect the newborn in the first months of life, when it cannot yet be vaccinated itself.
The articles below explain the individual diseases – what causes them, how they run their course and what an infection would mean for the baby – as well as the vaccines and the information sheets as they appear in the Austrian immunisation schedule. Which vaccination is recommended when is settled in the consultation; bring your vaccination record to the first appointment.
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Articles
The first vaccine developed on a computer from the genome of the organism – and the only one for which paracetamol is …
DiphtheriaAn illness nobody sees any more – and one that returned the moment a population lost its protection.
Haemophilus influenzae type bAn illness that has vanished – and one that shows why the vaccination appointments of the first year of life should not …
Hepatitis BA positive result in the mother remains almost without consequence for the baby – if the right thing happens in the …
Hexyon – the six-in-one vaccineSix illnesses in one injection – from the third month of life. What protects in the weeks before that is decided in …
Immunisation schedule for infants and small childrenKnowing the appointments before the child is there means not having to work them out later between breastfeeding and …
Immunisation schedule for school childrenAt school age comes the one decision about vaccination that has a direct bearing on gynaecology.
Information sheet on the pneumococcal vaccinationThe only vaccination that is both a childhood and an adult one – and where the conversation runs completely differently …
Information sheet on the rotavirus vaccinationDue six weeks after the birth and impossible to catch up – the one decision about vaccination where postponing means …
Information sheet on the six-in-one vaccinationBeing informed is not a formality but the precondition of valid consent. What belongs in it – and who may agree.
MeaslesThe most contagious pathogen there is – and not vaccinable during pregnancy. What has to have happened beforehand.
Meningococcal diseaseA headache can become an emergency within hours. The early signs are not the ones you would expect.
MumpsThe commonest worry about mumps concerns fertility – and for women it is almost always unfounded. What counts instead.
Pneumococcal diseaseWhen a pneumococcal vaccination becomes an issue for women – and why breathlessness in pregnancy allows a dangerous …
Polio (poliomyelitis)The only illness in the immunisation schedule close to worldwide eradication – and the one where letting up now would …
Prevenar 13The vaccine that set the standard for a decade – and whose history shows why recommendations change without the old …
Rotavirus (vomiting and diarrhoea)The first decision about vaccination of all – and it comes six weeks after the birth.
RubellaHarmless for adults, one of the most dangerous infections for an unborn child in the first weeks.
SynflorixFewer serotypes, but a carrier protein with a benefit of its own. What the difference means in practice.
Tetanus (lockjaw)The organism lives in the soil and stays there. Which is why no herd immunity protects you here – only your own …
Whooping cough (pertussis)A stubborn cough for adults, life-threatening for a newborn. Why vaccination is given in pregnancy – and why in every …
Frequently asked questions
Which vaccinations are recommended during pregnancy?
Whooping cough (as a combined vaccine with diphtheria and tetanus) in every pregnancy, plus the flu vaccination in season. Both are inactivated vaccines that do not harm the baby and, through the mother's antibodies, give it protection for the first months.
Which vaccinations must not be given during pregnancy?
Live vaccines: measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox. They belong at least a month before a pregnancy. Anyone who has had one by accident in early pregnancy should mention it – a termination is not necessary because of it, a check is.
How do I know whether I am protected against rubella?
From your vaccination record – two documented doses count as protection – or from a blood test. It is one of the examinations before a pregnancy and appears in the screening planner.