Why vaccinate during pregnancy?

Vaccination during pregnancy helps protect both you and your baby from serious infections.

These pregnancy vaccines are carefully chosen to protect you while you're pregnant - and to pass on protective antibodies to your baby before they’re even born.

Three pregnant women sitting on a couch in an antenatal group, smiling and holding tablets or notebooks.

  • Vaccines work by teaching your immune system how to recognise and fight certain germs.

    They contain a harmless version of the germ (or just part of the germ), so your body can safely build protection without you getting sick.

    Once your immune system learns what to look for, it remembers how to fight it off in the future.

  • Young babies are especially vulnerable to some infections because their immune systems are still developing, and they haven’t yet had their own vaccinations. That’s why giving your new baby early protection by getting vaccinated while you are pregnant is so important.

    During pregnancy, protective antibodies made by your immune system cross the placenta, to your baby. When you're vaccinated during pregnancy, this boosts the level of antibodies in your blood and increases how much can be passed to your baby before birth. These antibodies protect your baby from infection in their first few weeks of life, before they’re old enough to get their own vaccines.

    Even if you have been vaccinated before, getting your recommended vaccines in every pregnancy maximises protection for your baby.

  • Yes - vaccines recommended during pregnancy are safe for you and your baby.

    Each one has been carefully tested and reviewed by experts to make sure it’s safe to use in pregnancy.

    Your midwife or doctor will only recommend vaccines that are proven to be both safe and effective.

  • In the UK, you will be offered:

    during your pregnancy. You may also be offered some other vaccines if you need them for work or travel.

    During the pandemic, COVID-19 vaccination was also offered but is no longer routinely offered during pregnancy in the UK.

  • You can find summary information about the vaccines you will be offered during your pregnancy on the NHS website or at the pregnancy and baby charity Tommy’s.  More detailed information is available from UKHSA or the British Society for Immunology.

    This website contains detailed information about each of the three vaccines routinely offered during pregnancy in the UK:

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