As you can imagine, the birth of a baby comes with a fair amount of anxiety. Even relatively low-risk worries (which pacifier is best? Which crib sheets are the most comfortable?) can consume every waking moment. But do we have a responsibility to protect the health of vulnerable humans? Now, let’s talk about a sleepless night.
Of course, you can’t always control whether your child will get sick, but you can jumpstart your efforts by getting certain vaccinations during pregnancy. Basically, there are several vaccines that stimulate the immune system to produce protective antibodies that cross the placenta and last in the baby’s body for several months. Basically, it keeps children safe as they have a strengthened immune system. Traditional pregnancy re-vaccines include influenza, COVID-19, and Tdap, but a new vaccine (which the FDA has given the green light for in 2023) protects against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can be extremely dangerous to newborns. ). Here’s what experts want you to know about this vaccine.
Why is RSV dangerous to babies?
For most healthy people, RSV is like a cold and annoying, but less serious. But babies, especially those under 6 months old, are especially susceptible to getting sick. Respiratory syncytial virus is the leading cause of pneumonia, a serious lung infection, and is the leading cause of hospitalization among infants in the United States. This is because, as mentioned above, it takes time for newborns to develop an immune system sufficient to fight infections. “This is not something that’s innate at birth,” Dr. Michael Beninati, a maternal-fetal medicine physician at UW Health, tells SELF. RSV is a respiratory disease and is especially dangerous because babies’ lungs are very small.
Essentially, you may need to go to the hospital for supportive care such as oxygen, IV fluids, medication, or in severe cases, being placed on a ventilator until the virus can be eliminated.
That’s what happened to Hannah Nurnberger’s newborn son. He contracted RSV from his older brother around Thanksgiving 2023. At first it seemed like a common cold, but soon my 12-day-old son began to suffer more. His breathing increases at night and he develops a bluish color around his nose, which indicates he is depleted of oxygen. “It was like okay, okay, okay, and then it wasn’t okay,” said the 33-year-old behavioral analyst in Denver.
Nurnberger immediately took her baby to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with RSV. Doctors suctioned mucus from his nose, which was a little traumatic for Nurnberger. “I know I’m not harming my child, but as a postpartum mother, hearing my child scream in a constant octave is very unpleasant,” she says.
His oxygen levels were not too low, so he was allowed to go home. “I thought it would be great to have some extra protection from my mother’s vaccine,” said Nurnberger, who received Tdap but not the vaccine. RSV shot.
When is the best time to get the RSV vaccine during pregnancy?
The CDC recommends RSV vaccination for pregnant women between 32 weeks and 36 days of pregnancy, depending on the time of year. Why is this particular time in the third trimester? “The rationale is primarily for antibody transfer to the fetus,” Tori Metz, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine physician at the University of Utah Health, tells SELF. It takes about two weeks for antibodies to be made and for them to cross the placenta and reach the fetus.
