Amber’s first question was, “what is whooping cough and how do I know if I get it or not?” Whooping cough (pertussis) is an upper respiratory infection that is caused by particular bacteria. The most common way to be exposed is by direct contact with someone else who already has whooping cough. It usually takes about a week for the first symptoms to appear after you have been exposed. At first the infected person thinks they just have a cold with a fever, but the severe coughing usually starts in about 10 to 12 days, and it can take up to six weeks before you get over it. So Amber has a few more days to wait to see if she does become ill or not. But since she really did not have any direct contact with the woman as she does not work near her, Amber’s chance of getting whooping cough was small.
So, Amber’s next question was, “since I am pregnant, can I get the whooping cough vaccine?” The vaccine for whooping cough is called the Tdap and it is an inactivated, dead vaccine. It is recommended that pregnant women receive the Tdap vaccine later in their pregnancy, usually between weeks 27 to 36. This allows for the best antibody response and good passive antibody transfer to the baby. In other words, the baby will be protected after he/she is born. Although babies do receive whooping cough vaccinations, the first one is not given until age two months. There are case reports of babies younger than two months that have died from whooping cough infections. So, when a pregnant woman herself receives the whooping cough vaccination, she is passing the protection on to her baby. There are not any known increased risks to the baby from the pregnant woman receiving the Tdap vaccine.
I advised Amber to talk with her doctor about getting the whooping cough vaccine and mentioned the influenza vaccine too. Since it is now flu season, it is important for pregnant women to also get the flu vaccine. The flu vaccine is also a dead, inactivated vaccine that does not have any known increased risk to the pregnancy or baby. Just like with the Tdap vaccine, receiving the influenza vaccine allows the mom to build up an immune response to the flu that is passed on to her baby. Amber was relieved to hear that she can receive the vaccinations during her pregnancy.
If you have questions like Amber did, give us a call from anywhere in North America! Our trained counselors can answer any questions that you have about exposures during pregnancy or while nursing your baby. Please call MotherToBaby, a service of the international non-profit Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS), toll-FREE at 866-626-6847 or check us out at MotherToBaby.org. We are here to help you take the best care of yourself and your unborn baby that you can.

Lori Wolfe, MS, is a board-certified genetic counselor and the past-president of OTIS. She is also the director of OTIS’ Texas affiliate, MotherToBaby North TX, which she founded in 1991. Visit its website at MotherToBabyNorthTX.org. OTIS and its information service, MotherToBaby, are suggested resources by many agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).