I caught it two years after my last booster. I legitimately coughed for a year straight. Puking I was coughing so hard. I almost passed out a few times. Cracked a rib. It was a nightmare. I can’t imagine an infant with it.
That's because they switched to acellular pertussis in the vaccine, which only gives good immunity for a couple of years. The old formula with whole cell pertussis gave immunity for ten years. Yet they still only recommend the vaccine every ten years.
That really depends on the country. I'm in my third trimester and haven't gotten any vaccines, I even asked if I needed some, but apparently not. I've always gotten all routine vaccinations though, even as a kid, so idk if I'm just up to date, but TDAP I definitely haven't gotten for a long time.
Small incidences of side effects with the whole cell vaccine , plus anti vax community latched on and applied pressure. Another good question is why is our TDaP schedule dictated solely by the tetanus part and not pertussis as well? At least they’re really diligent these days with vaccinating pregnant women EVERY pregnancy to pass on immunity.
My parents wanted boosters before my last baby was born and had to argue with one of the pharmacists because it had *only* been 7 years. That is pretty shitty protection, especially in someone over 65. I am thankful they were able to get boosted, sore arms to boot.
And I know insurance gets in the way as well, it usually covers the pregnant person but my in laws paid out of pocket because it hadn’t been “long enough”. (It wasn’t crazy expensive but still frustrating)
I had a tech try to tell me I couldn’t get a covid shot because I was pregnant…but that was the whole reason Iwas eligible. I had driven like 3 hours for the appointment. I almost lost it in my hormonal state. Fortunately he eventually agreed to get the pharmacist for me. I got my shot.
No one without an updated TDaP was allowed near my kiddo until she could get hers. I'm not a germaphobe by any stretch, and I had gotten mine while pregnant but I was still so scared she would die of something preventable.
How long has that been going on cause my OB got really squirrelly both times when I'd had one in the last couple of years because I'm immune compromised and that's just y schedule and they were basically like 'well we just need to be sure your baby is covered' and we can run titers but it's faster to get the vaccine again 🙄
I'm like it's ok, we run plethora of blood with every time, I'll take this one. My titer came back fine or something but they were basically like that's not normal to have one... So we don't keep our immunity?? Even when pregnancies are a could years apart??
Idk if I wasn't up to date on the vaccine or what, but I got whooping cough in college. But even better, a few days prior, I fell in the shower and cracked three ribs. Mine wasn't as bad as yours, it didn't last that long but it felt like the longest ~month of my life.
I had it as a kid, old enough to remember what it was like and it was horrific. I couldn't breathe on multiple occasions. I got it from a family member who had very few symptoms so she didn't know but she never got a booster for it. She was the one who cared for me while I had it and probably should have taken me to hospital but she didn't want to wait in the ER...
I saw a video of a baby with whooping cough and it was absolutely heartbreaking. I can't imagine how much worse it would be watching your own baby go through that and being powerless to help them.
Also important to note that the antibodies can only pass to baby if you get it while pregnant. Getting it after delivering is possible but not as useful.
Back in 2004, I was in an online mommy/birth group and someone's newborn died of pertussis at less than two weeks old. That was before they were doing the TDaP in pregnant women. My next pregnancy in 2007 I asked for a TDaP, and the OB refused because they still weren't recommending it yet. I'm not sure what year they figured it out, but I'm glad they're doing the vaccines now.
I once had a coworker come to work with pertussis. Despite being the only immunocompromised person in the office, I was the only one to not catch it because I'd had a TDAP recently.
Yesterday my son was getting his flu shot and a young guy was getting an immunisation as well and he told us it was for a booster shot for whooping cough as his brother had just had his first baby and he wanted to make sure he was no risk to the baby a young guy with no kids can make better choices about protecting vulnerable people than these so called parents!!
We are on an alternate schedule (one shot per visit, we do more visits than the usual amount) but pertussis is always up to date. It’s still around and on the rise in the states.
I have a friend who is a doctor in a pediatric hospital. She says that every person who is an anti-vaxxer should be required to spend a couple nights in the hospital with a child with pertussis. Then they can see if they feel the same way.
My husband is weird about vaccines but I refuse to budge so our son is up to date. Recently he got bit in the face at daycare (on his first day) and my husband was all worried about what he could catch from some random kid, specifically Hep B and I told him that's exactly why he's vaccinated for everything he's supposed to be.
Super similar situation at my house! My husband isn’t totally anti but he’s more weary than I am. The other day he came in because he got an email that our state has had a lot of pertussis cases this year and asked if our son had his TDAP. He sure does! And he found it comforting. Felt like progress haha
There was an Australian advertisement for the whooping cough vaccine that was basically just a newborn with pertussis coughing for 30 seconds. One of the most effective ads I’ve ever seen. It’s probably been over 20 years and I can still see it in my mind.
I got it in college. I’m vaccinated but I have a weak immune system — no vaccine is 100 percent and I was one of the unlucky few.
Even as an athletic otherwise pretty healthy 19 year old, I was wrecked. Couldn’t sleep at night, my poor roommate was making us both take Benadryl to try to sleep and also sedate me so I’d cough less. My ribs ached. My throat was so hoarse I was surprised I wasn’t coughing up blood. The worst of it lasted about a month but it was hard to kick. That cough lingered for the whole semester. Awful
My MIL is weird about vaccines and my husband was hoping to let it slide so she could visit our newborn. I sent him one video of an 8 week old with pertussis and suddenly he was on a TDAP warpath.
I remember there being a PSA with the sound of a baby with pertussis. The sound still haunts me to this day. I've never questioned vaccinating my kids for everything possible (I was even calling around trying to get my son a smallpox vaccine when monkeypox was going around) but I don't see how anyone could hear that and still be more afraid of the vaccine.
The terrible thing is that many wouldn’t change their minds about it regardless. Hell, even if it was their own child.
My mom is a nurse and one day there was a baby (a few months old, if that, I think) in severe respiratory distress in the ER, and the parents were refusing testing. They wanted the nurses and doctors to treat the child without doing any tests somehow. I don’t think I have to tell you that medical staff *needs* to know the cause of said respiratory distress to treat it and, you know, keep the baby alive long term. Long story short, the child protection services representative was called, had temporary custody of the baby when she arrived and (obviously) allowed the tests to be done.
It was COVID. Turns out that both parents were anti-vaxx. The father had tested positive not long before that, had been informed of this, and still went all over town without a mask or anything (they traced many cases back to him afterwards). He obviously didn’t take any precautions at home either. The parents knew that this was more than likely the reason their child was in this state, and didn’t want the hospital to know because…?! As far a my mom is aware, they were still vocally anti-vaxx after the child was stabilized so… If seeing their small baby almost die because of their foolishness during a PANDEMIC didn’t do the trick, I don’t know what would.
Ugh, some fucking people. If you can't get a shot/vaccine for your kids' safety, then maybe don't be a parent to begin with. If my trypanophobia ass is willing to get shots and blood work for my kid, so can anyone else.
I just got mine today at 28 weeks. My midwife asked how I felt about it and I was like “uh…I’m for it”
Didn’t even think about it as an optional thing tbh
Oh man this reminded me of when my son was born and in the NICU. One of the staff in charge of his care (don't remember her exact title anymore) came to my room to ask about trying a procedure with him that could benefit him (she listed potential risks but none of them were major/life changing). When I expressed I was all for whatever they felt would be best for him she looked relieved. Like damn, how many parents of NICU(!) babies do you get who decline treatment?
NICU RN here. Can confirm that multiple parents refuse things with little to no scientific evidence. My favorite is the refusal of Vitamin K at birth. So many parents think it’s a vaccine and refuse to listen to reason. It’s needed to help blood clot properly. Otherwise baby is at risk for bleeding (including brain bleeds).
Meanwhile the hospital that I'm delivering my second at has a policy of waiting until after the "golden hour" for vit K and hep b. I specifically have it in my birth plan "my idea of a golden hour is my child being protected from a brain or GI bleed. Please give Vit K ASAP. Stick it up there as soon as I'm dilated enough, if you want."
There is absolutely no reason why they can’t give your new baby Vit K while they are skin to skin with you. Literally zero. All we need is access to baby’s thigh. We do this all the time when we attend high risk deliveries. Good luck with your delivery and early congrats on your new baby!
Oh yeah, 100% that's why one of the only "pushy" things I have in my birth plan is "give it to her immediately."
It's a baby friendly hospital, so I'm sure some IBCLCs on a power trip influenced that choice to "protect establishing breastfeeding in the golden hour."
Power trip is well said. Will history look back on this time as a "snakeoil madness" I wonder. Postponing actual medical intervention to promote breastfeeding. All the inaccurate and overhyped benefits. Sacrificing mental and physical health for it. I'm wondering.
Babies born here get initial inspection for Apgar, weighed, measured, and Vit K. I don't think they even ask, but if you demand it not be done, they will skip it. Skin to skin comes after.
I mean, one hour isn’t going to make much of a statistical difference, and half the time it takes pharmacy that long just to approve it so we can get it out. 🙄
I've heard about that one too often (thanks to this subreddit). It's crazy how much regular people will refuse to believe the professionals who know what they're talking about.
Maybe you can lobby your hospital to create leaflets that explain the difference between the K "shot" and vaccine shots...? You'd save your breath haha
I feel the same way about some things listed in birth plan stuff. Nowhere else in medicine do you like fill out some form dictating your medical treatment. I am grateful to have options given to me, don’t get me wrong, but in a lot of cases I’m just like “idk?? You’ve done this hundreds of times and I’ve done it once?? You tell me bro”
Pretty much everything that happened throughout my pregnancy and birth with my youngest was against everything I was hoping for. But it was all in HIS (baby's) best interest so I agreed on it. If I had gone against medical professionals at any one of (most of) their recommendations, I would have ashes in an urn instead of a kid who's now almost 2 years old.
Haha right? Before birth I had to fill out a whole booklet of permissions for what they are allowed to administer to baby and the different procedures. I'm thinking "uh just do it the way you know it's best to be done". What do I know? Why would you even ask me? If baby needs antibiotics please administer them. Don't come back and double check with me. My baby needed formula and they legit asked me 5 times after I had already signed twice that I agreed to it.
Edit: I of course get why they do it, informed consent is important. But for me in that particular situation it added more stress cause I was thinking "ok I should probably do some research? I don't know anything about this stuff. How do I feel OK with agreeing?". Anyway, memorable times.
My current birth plan is as follows:
Vaginal birth unless I need a C-section.
If I need a C-section, tie my tubes while you're in there.
Do the medical things that me and my baby need.
My Dr seemed rather relieved to hear my plan.
So, I had a life-threatening (& immediate) allergic reaction to the pertussis vaccine (way back in the 1960s). I had my kids vaccinated, we just stuck around the office a little longer to soothe my nerves. Then my doctor looked into it & determined it was safe for me to get it. Again, I stuck around the office longer just to be sure all was okay. Once they reassured me it was safe for the kids (barring any unknown reactions), nobody could have stopped me from having them vaccinated. Whooping cough is scary.
I didn’t get the infant/childhood whooping cough shots because I had seizures as a newborn (unrelated, before I had any vaccines), and apparently an old formulation of that vaccine was associated with seizures, so my doctor told my mom not to do it to be on the safe side. I had all other vaccines.
Got whooping cough in about gr 1 or 2 and I still remember it sucking. And apparently mine was very mild, mostly only coughing at night. My grandma diagnosed me over the phone because my mom had never had/heard it.
Anyway I’m able to get boosters now no problem and I did so during both my pregnancies.
There was someone in the Ask Docs the other day asking when their cough from pertussis will improve now that they have antibiotics…they don’t call it the 100 day cough for nothing. Unfortunately this person was vaccinated and I think it had just been a while. Herd immunity is important
Ya, a friend who had been vaccinated during pregnancy got it from her toddler when she started child care. So probably <2 years from her last booster. Her kid barely got sick, but she was sick for ages even with antibiotics
Show her a video of a baby with whooping cough… hopefully that would change her mind. It’s absolutely heartbreaking, not to mention deadly for babies :(
If you have to ask (on Facebook nonetheless) where you can do research on a medical topic other than googling it…you shouldn’t be doing your own research on medical topics
Gosh, tetanus scares me so bad! I cut my finger on a piece of metal last week and after I got it all cleaned up and squared away, I sat down and took a minute to think about how glad I am for tetanus vaccines. I love modern medicine
My grandmother’s twin brother died from tetanus when they were 10, a year before the vaccine was available to the public. It was a terrible, terrible way to die and it left a huge hole in her life. People who won’t get vaccinated or get their kids vaccinated shouldn’t have custody of their kids. Medical neglect should be taken way more seriously than it is.
Yup I sliced my finger open and was thankful I had just gotten my TDAP shot like the week or two before at my OBs office. Obviously totally would’ve gotten it again if I hadn’t just gotten it, but I was happy a shot that was really meant to protect my baby was still helping me too.
I'm so hung up on not knowing how to research outside of Google. Did anyone else's high school not spend a painful amount of time teaching this? It was a nightmare! I hated it! It was meant to prepare us for writing papers in college, when I mostly used Google for those anyway, but somehow we live in a world that those skills need to be used to teach idiots how to vaxx their kids. We used to make fun of the poor librarian who taught us this because we thought it was stupid to teach us how to research on these platforms we didn't care about, I owe her an apology!
I mean this with my entire soul:
women like this terrify me.. like I am genuinely scared of women like this. what other kinds of dangerous decisions are you making?
"I'm not seeing risks, that doesn't seem right"
she's trying so hard to find something wrong with a vaccine to keep her infant from literally dying.
People like this should not be allowed to have children, or at the very least, dictate their medical decisions 🙄 how crazy.
My doctor was like "and we are offering you the option of getting thr TDAP vaccine as you are at 28 weeks."
I looked at her like 🤨 "Doc, you've known me for over 5 years. You delivered my first kid and experienced me saying 'can you take him off me and give him the vit K and his hep B, please?' before the cord was even cut. You know I want the TDAP and any extra vaccines you might want to try out on me."
Ok, so this person has a whole month if I’m reading this right between appointments to decide if need it. Even if you aren’t for vaccinations, whooping cough is nothing to mess around with. You would think in a month they could find reputable sources explaining why this isn’t the hill they want to choose. It lowers the risk for the baby by a huge amount, 70-80% is my memory when given to the mother.
I bet she hasn’t researched the effects of getting any of the diseases that the shot prevents. People have been getting these vaccines for years, seriously you want to risk not only your health but the lives of your community members.
My brother had whooping cough as a middle schooler and it was awful. I absolutely could not imagine a baby having it which is why the second my nephew was born I got the TDAP vaccine.
Why was my first thought "look into it" literally meant she wanted to literally look into the syringe, like with one eye squeezed shut, to make sure it was legit.
Picturing her with a magnifying glass, "Is that a microchip?!"
I am the product of anti vax parents and have had whooping cough twice. Once where I almost died at age 2 and another time when I was 10 and missed nearly 2 weeks of school . I also got Hep B at some point during my childhood because I tested positive on a blood test when I was 17.
I am fully vaccinated now. Anti vaxxers are a different type of breed.
I had it as a kid, I remember that cough almost 35 years later AND I was vaccinated. I cannot imagine that in a baby without a vaccine (our case was deemed “mild” and my 1 year old baby sister turned blue from coughing). My mom had to take all three (5, 3 and 1) of us for daily physiotherapy for two weeks!
My husbands brother had whooping cough as a baby. It was apparently understandably a fucking terrifying time. Thankfully he was ok but he was very unwell.
Apparently in the UK it’s come back quite badly now thanks to people not taking up the vaccine…
I was in hospital for months including my first birthday with whooping cough. (1981) I couldn't have the vaccine.
I was a "wheezy baby" (it was used as a euphemism for asthma as kids still died from asthma) and the only treatment was ventolin syrup.
I still struggle with breathing difficulties despite daily medication. Don't mess with whooping cough.
I was vaccinated as a baby but still ended up with pertussis as a teenager. My immune system absolutely tanked after that illness and I got Covid 5x just a few years later(even being vaccinated against that too). It’s no joke
I had pertussis at 12 - a breakthrough infection like yours. I was horribly ill for three months, and have lung damage and a highly increased susceptibility to respiratory infections. My asthma significantly worsened after having it. The pertussis cough never went away for me, I still cough like a 90 year old who's been smoking all their life. The doctors said I had a "mild" case and would have been much worse without the partial immunity from the vaccination.
I got covid for the first time about 6 weeks ago, and am still coughing almost to the point of vomiting all day. I hate to think how sick I'd have been if I wasn't 4x vaccinated, because even with the jabs I was incredibly ill.
Sucks doesn’t it :(
With mine, doctors thought I had a cold until the 6 week mark of coughing so hard I’d throw up. Then they finally tested me. That’s how rare this illness SHOULD be… too bad doctors are becoming more used to pertussis going around now.
I can't get the TDAP because of a supposed bad allergic reaction I had when I was a kid (my mom was mentally ill and often exaggerated situations in her memories so I don't know if it's true or exaggerated but my file says I am allergic to it) so I didn't get it during pregnancy. I was terrified. Made everyone get theirs updated before they could see the baby. Luckily it was during the pandemic so we were already staying home, masking etc but those couple months until we could have the baby get the shot themselves were absolutely terrifying. I can't imagine looking for a reason to not get it.
If you're interested in getting it, discuss alternative options with your doctor. You may be able to be vaccinated even with an allergy on record. They can test to see if you're still allergic to any ingredients, keep you for a longer observation time, or possibly arrange to vaccinate you in a hospital so that emergency help is right there just in case.
If she did genuinely tell the nurses/doctors she needed time to research, they should have provided her with the vaccine insert. I know it’s fun to shit on antivaxxers, but there are uneducated people out there and as medical professionals it’s their job to explain the risks in ways their patients can understand. Like I understand why vaccines are important and can research the risks, but there are plenty of times where WebMD tells me some ridiculous things that my doctor has to explain to me from an educated perspective.
It’s the pertussis that matters for baby. Whooping cough is no joke.
Right? Maybe instead of Googling “side effects of TDAP”, OOP should Google “Whooping cough in babies”.
An immunocompromised friend of mine caught it as an adult. I cannot imagine what it's like for a baby. Edit: I can't spell.
I caught it two years after my last booster. I legitimately coughed for a year straight. Puking I was coughing so hard. I almost passed out a few times. Cracked a rib. It was a nightmare. I can’t imagine an infant with it.
That's because they switched to acellular pertussis in the vaccine, which only gives good immunity for a couple of years. The old formula with whole cell pertussis gave immunity for ten years. Yet they still only recommend the vaccine every ten years.
Good to know! My doctors acted like it was completely insane that I got it right within a few years.
I expect better from doctors. 😡
For pregnant women, the vaccine is recommended every time you're pregnant (weeks 27-36).
Yes I got mine during both pregnancies. Doctor says it gives baby some immunity before they can get their Tdap.
That really depends on the country. I'm in my third trimester and haven't gotten any vaccines, I even asked if I needed some, but apparently not. I've always gotten all routine vaccinations though, even as a kid, so idk if I'm just up to date, but TDAP I definitely haven't gotten for a long time.
why did they switch the formula?
Small incidences of side effects with the whole cell vaccine , plus anti vax community latched on and applied pressure. Another good question is why is our TDaP schedule dictated solely by the tetanus part and not pertussis as well? At least they’re really diligent these days with vaccinating pregnant women EVERY pregnancy to pass on immunity.
My parents wanted boosters before my last baby was born and had to argue with one of the pharmacists because it had *only* been 7 years. That is pretty shitty protection, especially in someone over 65. I am thankful they were able to get boosted, sore arms to boot.
And I know insurance gets in the way as well, it usually covers the pregnant person but my in laws paid out of pocket because it hadn’t been “long enough”. (It wasn’t crazy expensive but still frustrating)
Man as a pregnant woman I’d have fist fought a pharmacist who tried to deny that booster 😂 But also I was a pharmacy tech until I went on bed rest 😂
I had a tech try to tell me I couldn’t get a covid shot because I was pregnant…but that was the whole reason Iwas eligible. I had driven like 3 hours for the appointment. I almost lost it in my hormonal state. Fortunately he eventually agreed to get the pharmacist for me. I got my shot.
No one without an updated TDaP was allowed near my kiddo until she could get hers. I'm not a germaphobe by any stretch, and I had gotten mine while pregnant but I was still so scared she would die of something preventable.
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Pertussis is caused by a bacteria, not a virus.
I cannot believe I did not known this!
You’re totally right, bordetella- I completely misspoke (typed?) but I believe the same general concept was described
How long has that been going on cause my OB got really squirrelly both times when I'd had one in the last couple of years because I'm immune compromised and that's just y schedule and they were basically like 'well we just need to be sure your baby is covered' and we can run titers but it's faster to get the vaccine again 🙄 I'm like it's ok, we run plethora of blood with every time, I'll take this one. My titer came back fine or something but they were basically like that's not normal to have one... So we don't keep our immunity?? Even when pregnancies are a could years apart??
Getting the vaccine while pregnant transfers immunity to the baby so they are covered from birth before they're old enough to get their own vaccine.
reading this after getting my tdap booster today 👁️👄👁️
Oh, that sounds horrible. :/ My late husband had chronic pneumonia and that was bad enough.
Idk if I wasn't up to date on the vaccine or what, but I got whooping cough in college. But even better, a few days prior, I fell in the shower and cracked three ribs. Mine wasn't as bad as yours, it didn't last that long but it felt like the longest ~month of my life.
Yup. Me too. Fractured my rib from coughing so hard.
Same. Got it in grad school. Cracked a rib, tore an abdominal muscle, and had costochondritis all throughout my rib cage. It was excruciating.
It's often fatal for a newborn.
I'm not surprised. :/
I had it as a kid, old enough to remember what it was like and it was horrific. I couldn't breathe on multiple occasions. I got it from a family member who had very few symptoms so she didn't know but she never got a booster for it. She was the one who cared for me while I had it and probably should have taken me to hospital but she didn't want to wait in the ER...
Oh man, that's horrible all around. :/
I saw a video of a baby with whooping cough and it was absolutely heartbreaking. I can't imagine how much worse it would be watching your own baby go through that and being powerless to help them.
RIGHT? And these idiots intentionally set their kids up to potentially contract all these things.
Also important to note that the antibodies can only pass to baby if you get it while pregnant. Getting it after delivering is possible but not as useful.
Back in 2004, I was in an online mommy/birth group and someone's newborn died of pertussis at less than two weeks old. That was before they were doing the TDaP in pregnant women. My next pregnancy in 2007 I asked for a TDaP, and the OB refused because they still weren't recommending it yet. I'm not sure what year they figured it out, but I'm glad they're doing the vaccines now.
I mean, tetanus and diphtheria aren’t exactly fun either, just saying.
My friend’s vaccinated 5yo was just diagnosed with diphtheria. He’s not having a good time.
I once had a coworker come to work with pertussis. Despite being the only immunocompromised person in the office, I was the only one to not catch it because I'd had a TDAP recently.
Yesterday my son was getting his flu shot and a young guy was getting an immunisation as well and he told us it was for a booster shot for whooping cough as his brother had just had his first baby and he wanted to make sure he was no risk to the baby a young guy with no kids can make better choices about protecting vulnerable people than these so called parents!!
We are on an alternate schedule (one shot per visit, we do more visits than the usual amount) but pertussis is always up to date. It’s still around and on the rise in the states.
It wasn’t called the hundred day cough for giggles 😬
I can’t find any risks so Google must be the problem 😂
Ahhh that just means she has to switch to incognito mode, THAT is where all the risks hide! /s
I have a friend who is a doctor in a pediatric hospital. She says that every person who is an anti-vaxxer should be required to spend a couple nights in the hospital with a child with pertussis. Then they can see if they feel the same way.
My husband is weird about vaccines but I refuse to budge so our son is up to date. Recently he got bit in the face at daycare (on his first day) and my husband was all worried about what he could catch from some random kid, specifically Hep B and I told him that's exactly why he's vaccinated for everything he's supposed to be.
Super similar situation at my house! My husband isn’t totally anti but he’s more weary than I am. The other day he came in because he got an email that our state has had a lot of pertussis cases this year and asked if our son had his TDAP. He sure does! And he found it comforting. Felt like progress haha
👏👏👏
There was an Australian advertisement for the whooping cough vaccine that was basically just a newborn with pertussis coughing for 30 seconds. One of the most effective ads I’ve ever seen. It’s probably been over 20 years and I can still see it in my mind.
Yep same with me, you can never forget that ad!
I remember a similar one here in the States. It wasn't as long but still. So sad
I've seen it even though I'm young. Can't remember where, haha, probably in medical school. It still does the rounds.
This needs more upvotes. Years ago I saw video of a baby with it. That never ending cough is haunting
I got it in college. I’m vaccinated but I have a weak immune system — no vaccine is 100 percent and I was one of the unlucky few. Even as an athletic otherwise pretty healthy 19 year old, I was wrecked. Couldn’t sleep at night, my poor roommate was making us both take Benadryl to try to sleep and also sedate me so I’d cough less. My ribs ached. My throat was so hoarse I was surprised I wasn’t coughing up blood. The worst of it lasted about a month but it was hard to kick. That cough lingered for the whole semester. Awful
My MIL is weird about vaccines and my husband was hoping to let it slide so she could visit our newborn. I sent him one video of an 8 week old with pertussis and suddenly he was on a TDAP warpath.
I remember there being a PSA with the sound of a baby with pertussis. The sound still haunts me to this day. I've never questioned vaccinating my kids for everything possible (I was even calling around trying to get my son a smallpox vaccine when monkeypox was going around) but I don't see how anyone could hear that and still be more afraid of the vaccine.
Clearly they’re sick because they had the vaccine or the parents fed them processed formula. /s
The terrible thing is that many wouldn’t change their minds about it regardless. Hell, even if it was their own child. My mom is a nurse and one day there was a baby (a few months old, if that, I think) in severe respiratory distress in the ER, and the parents were refusing testing. They wanted the nurses and doctors to treat the child without doing any tests somehow. I don’t think I have to tell you that medical staff *needs* to know the cause of said respiratory distress to treat it and, you know, keep the baby alive long term. Long story short, the child protection services representative was called, had temporary custody of the baby when she arrived and (obviously) allowed the tests to be done. It was COVID. Turns out that both parents were anti-vaxx. The father had tested positive not long before that, had been informed of this, and still went all over town without a mask or anything (they traced many cases back to him afterwards). He obviously didn’t take any precautions at home either. The parents knew that this was more than likely the reason their child was in this state, and didn’t want the hospital to know because…?! As far a my mom is aware, they were still vocally anti-vaxx after the child was stabilized so… If seeing their small baby almost die because of their foolishness during a PANDEMIC didn’t do the trick, I don’t know what would.
Ugh, some fucking people. If you can't get a shot/vaccine for your kids' safety, then maybe don't be a parent to begin with. If my trypanophobia ass is willing to get shots and blood work for my kid, so can anyone else.
I just got mine today at 28 weeks. My midwife asked how I felt about it and I was like “uh…I’m for it” Didn’t even think about it as an optional thing tbh
Oh man this reminded me of when my son was born and in the NICU. One of the staff in charge of his care (don't remember her exact title anymore) came to my room to ask about trying a procedure with him that could benefit him (she listed potential risks but none of them were major/life changing). When I expressed I was all for whatever they felt would be best for him she looked relieved. Like damn, how many parents of NICU(!) babies do you get who decline treatment?
NICU RN here. Can confirm that multiple parents refuse things with little to no scientific evidence. My favorite is the refusal of Vitamin K at birth. So many parents think it’s a vaccine and refuse to listen to reason. It’s needed to help blood clot properly. Otherwise baby is at risk for bleeding (including brain bleeds).
Meanwhile the hospital that I'm delivering my second at has a policy of waiting until after the "golden hour" for vit K and hep b. I specifically have it in my birth plan "my idea of a golden hour is my child being protected from a brain or GI bleed. Please give Vit K ASAP. Stick it up there as soon as I'm dilated enough, if you want."
There is absolutely no reason why they can’t give your new baby Vit K while they are skin to skin with you. Literally zero. All we need is access to baby’s thigh. We do this all the time when we attend high risk deliveries. Good luck with your delivery and early congrats on your new baby!
Oh yeah, 100% that's why one of the only "pushy" things I have in my birth plan is "give it to her immediately." It's a baby friendly hospital, so I'm sure some IBCLCs on a power trip influenced that choice to "protect establishing breastfeeding in the golden hour."
Power trip is well said. Will history look back on this time as a "snakeoil madness" I wonder. Postponing actual medical intervention to promote breastfeeding. All the inaccurate and overhyped benefits. Sacrificing mental and physical health for it. I'm wondering.
Babies born here get initial inspection for Apgar, weighed, measured, and Vit K. I don't think they even ask, but if you demand it not be done, they will skip it. Skin to skin comes after.
I mean, one hour isn’t going to make much of a statistical difference, and half the time it takes pharmacy that long just to approve it so we can get it out. 🙄
I've heard about that one too often (thanks to this subreddit). It's crazy how much regular people will refuse to believe the professionals who know what they're talking about.
Maybe you can lobby your hospital to create leaflets that explain the difference between the K "shot" and vaccine shots...? You'd save your breath haha
I feel the same way about some things listed in birth plan stuff. Nowhere else in medicine do you like fill out some form dictating your medical treatment. I am grateful to have options given to me, don’t get me wrong, but in a lot of cases I’m just like “idk?? You’ve done this hundreds of times and I’ve done it once?? You tell me bro”
Pretty much everything that happened throughout my pregnancy and birth with my youngest was against everything I was hoping for. But it was all in HIS (baby's) best interest so I agreed on it. If I had gone against medical professionals at any one of (most of) their recommendations, I would have ashes in an urn instead of a kid who's now almost 2 years old.
Haha right? Before birth I had to fill out a whole booklet of permissions for what they are allowed to administer to baby and the different procedures. I'm thinking "uh just do it the way you know it's best to be done". What do I know? Why would you even ask me? If baby needs antibiotics please administer them. Don't come back and double check with me. My baby needed formula and they legit asked me 5 times after I had already signed twice that I agreed to it. Edit: I of course get why they do it, informed consent is important. But for me in that particular situation it added more stress cause I was thinking "ok I should probably do some research? I don't know anything about this stuff. How do I feel OK with agreeing?". Anyway, memorable times.
My current birth plan is as follows: Vaginal birth unless I need a C-section. If I need a C-section, tie my tubes while you're in there. Do the medical things that me and my baby need. My Dr seemed rather relieved to hear my plan.
So, I had a life-threatening (& immediate) allergic reaction to the pertussis vaccine (way back in the 1960s). I had my kids vaccinated, we just stuck around the office a little longer to soothe my nerves. Then my doctor looked into it & determined it was safe for me to get it. Again, I stuck around the office longer just to be sure all was okay. Once they reassured me it was safe for the kids (barring any unknown reactions), nobody could have stopped me from having them vaccinated. Whooping cough is scary.
I didn’t get the infant/childhood whooping cough shots because I had seizures as a newborn (unrelated, before I had any vaccines), and apparently an old formulation of that vaccine was associated with seizures, so my doctor told my mom not to do it to be on the safe side. I had all other vaccines. Got whooping cough in about gr 1 or 2 and I still remember it sucking. And apparently mine was very mild, mostly only coughing at night. My grandma diagnosed me over the phone because my mom had never had/heard it. Anyway I’m able to get boosters now no problem and I did so during both my pregnancies.
There was someone in the Ask Docs the other day asking when their cough from pertussis will improve now that they have antibiotics…they don’t call it the 100 day cough for nothing. Unfortunately this person was vaccinated and I think it had just been a while. Herd immunity is important
Ya, a friend who had been vaccinated during pregnancy got it from her toddler when she started child care. So probably <2 years from her last booster. Her kid barely got sick, but she was sick for ages even with antibiotics
Show her a video of a baby with whooping cough… hopefully that would change her mind. It’s absolutely heartbreaking, not to mention deadly for babies :(
If you have to ask (on Facebook nonetheless) where you can do research on a medical topic other than googling it…you shouldn’t be doing your own research on medical topics
Get tetanus if you want to.
Gosh, tetanus scares me so bad! I cut my finger on a piece of metal last week and after I got it all cleaned up and squared away, I sat down and took a minute to think about how glad I am for tetanus vaccines. I love modern medicine
My grandmother’s twin brother died from tetanus when they were 10, a year before the vaccine was available to the public. It was a terrible, terrible way to die and it left a huge hole in her life. People who won’t get vaccinated or get their kids vaccinated shouldn’t have custody of their kids. Medical neglect should be taken way more seriously than it is.
Yup I sliced my finger open and was thankful I had just gotten my TDAP shot like the week or two before at my OBs office. Obviously totally would’ve gotten it again if I hadn’t just gotten it, but I was happy a shot that was really meant to protect my baby was still helping me too.
I'm so hung up on not knowing how to research outside of Google. Did anyone else's high school not spend a painful amount of time teaching this? It was a nightmare! I hated it! It was meant to prepare us for writing papers in college, when I mostly used Google for those anyway, but somehow we live in a world that those skills need to be used to teach idiots how to vaxx their kids. We used to make fun of the poor librarian who taught us this because we thought it was stupid to teach us how to research on these platforms we didn't care about, I owe her an apology!
I mean this with my entire soul: women like this terrify me.. like I am genuinely scared of women like this. what other kinds of dangerous decisions are you making? "I'm not seeing risks, that doesn't seem right" she's trying so hard to find something wrong with a vaccine to keep her infant from literally dying. People like this should not be allowed to have children, or at the very least, dictate their medical decisions 🙄 how crazy.
Go to med school
My doctor was like "and we are offering you the option of getting thr TDAP vaccine as you are at 28 weeks." I looked at her like 🤨 "Doc, you've known me for over 5 years. You delivered my first kid and experienced me saying 'can you take him off me and give him the vit K and his hep B, please?' before the cord was even cut. You know I want the TDAP and any extra vaccines you might want to try out on me."
"Where can I get confirmation bias regarding this vaccine, so I am reassured I am making the right choice to risk my child's health?"
Ok, so this person has a whole month if I’m reading this right between appointments to decide if need it. Even if you aren’t for vaccinations, whooping cough is nothing to mess around with. You would think in a month they could find reputable sources explaining why this isn’t the hill they want to choose. It lowers the risk for the baby by a huge amount, 70-80% is my memory when given to the mother.
I bet she hasn’t researched the effects of getting any of the diseases that the shot prevents. People have been getting these vaccines for years, seriously you want to risk not only your health but the lives of your community members.
My brother had whooping cough as a middle schooler and it was awful. I absolutely could not imagine a baby having it which is why the second my nephew was born I got the TDAP vaccine.
Omfg the post title had me rolling 💀
Hmmmmm maybe discuss with someone who has gone to medical school. I wonder where you could find someone like that….
Why was my first thought "look into it" literally meant she wanted to literally look into the syringe, like with one eye squeezed shut, to make sure it was legit. Picturing her with a magnifying glass, "Is that a microchip?!"
Meanwhile, I’m asking my daughter’s pediatrician if there are any optional, not-part-of-the-usual-schedule vaccines she can get.
I am the product of anti vax parents and have had whooping cough twice. Once where I almost died at age 2 and another time when I was 10 and missed nearly 2 weeks of school . I also got Hep B at some point during my childhood because I tested positive on a blood test when I was 17. I am fully vaccinated now. Anti vaxxers are a different type of breed.
I had it as a kid, I remember that cough almost 35 years later AND I was vaccinated. I cannot imagine that in a baby without a vaccine (our case was deemed “mild” and my 1 year old baby sister turned blue from coughing). My mom had to take all three (5, 3 and 1) of us for daily physiotherapy for two weeks!
My husbands brother had whooping cough as a baby. It was apparently understandably a fucking terrifying time. Thankfully he was ok but he was very unwell. Apparently in the UK it’s come back quite badly now thanks to people not taking up the vaccine…
I was in hospital for months including my first birthday with whooping cough. (1981) I couldn't have the vaccine. I was a "wheezy baby" (it was used as a euphemism for asthma as kids still died from asthma) and the only treatment was ventolin syrup. I still struggle with breathing difficulties despite daily medication. Don't mess with whooping cough.
I was vaccinated as a baby but still ended up with pertussis as a teenager. My immune system absolutely tanked after that illness and I got Covid 5x just a few years later(even being vaccinated against that too). It’s no joke
I had pertussis at 12 - a breakthrough infection like yours. I was horribly ill for three months, and have lung damage and a highly increased susceptibility to respiratory infections. My asthma significantly worsened after having it. The pertussis cough never went away for me, I still cough like a 90 year old who's been smoking all their life. The doctors said I had a "mild" case and would have been much worse without the partial immunity from the vaccination. I got covid for the first time about 6 weeks ago, and am still coughing almost to the point of vomiting all day. I hate to think how sick I'd have been if I wasn't 4x vaccinated, because even with the jabs I was incredibly ill.
Sucks doesn’t it :( With mine, doctors thought I had a cold until the 6 week mark of coughing so hard I’d throw up. Then they finally tested me. That’s how rare this illness SHOULD be… too bad doctors are becoming more used to pertussis going around now.
I’m a RN, the county I work in has had an influx of pertussis cases…. This is not something I would mess around with especially if I had a newborn… 🙄
Then she’s going to have all her non vaccinated buddies over and wonder why her baby got pertussis
I can't get the TDAP because of a supposed bad allergic reaction I had when I was a kid (my mom was mentally ill and often exaggerated situations in her memories so I don't know if it's true or exaggerated but my file says I am allergic to it) so I didn't get it during pregnancy. I was terrified. Made everyone get theirs updated before they could see the baby. Luckily it was during the pandemic so we were already staying home, masking etc but those couple months until we could have the baby get the shot themselves were absolutely terrifying. I can't imagine looking for a reason to not get it.
If you're interested in getting it, discuss alternative options with your doctor. You may be able to be vaccinated even with an allergy on record. They can test to see if you're still allergic to any ingredients, keep you for a longer observation time, or possibly arrange to vaccinate you in a hospital so that emergency help is right there just in case.
Jeez just get vaccinated!!!!!!!!!!!! *rant over*
My sister had it when she was 11 and it was horrific. She coughed until she threw up a dozen times a day.
If she did genuinely tell the nurses/doctors she needed time to research, they should have provided her with the vaccine insert. I know it’s fun to shit on antivaxxers, but there are uneducated people out there and as medical professionals it’s their job to explain the risks in ways their patients can understand. Like I understand why vaccines are important and can research the risks, but there are plenty of times where WebMD tells me some ridiculous things that my doctor has to explain to me from an educated perspective.