Vaccination and pregnancy: During pregnancy
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Vaccines recommended during pregnancy
Some vaccines are particularly important during pregnancy because they may help protect:
- you from serious complications (a risk that increases during pregnancy)
- infants after birth, when they're too young to be vaccinated against some diseases
The following vaccines are recommended in pregnancy:
- COVID-19
- flu (seasonal influenza)
- whooping cough (pertussis)
- respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
When you get vaccinated in pregnancy, you produce and pass on antibodies that protect your newborn during the first months of life. You can get any of these vaccines at the same time as, or at any time before or after, another vaccine recommended in pregnancy.
Talk to your:
- health care provider
- local public health unit or office
They can provide you with more information about vaccines or direct you to sources of information about vaccines.
COVID-19 vaccines
COVID-19 vaccines are recommended during pregnancy because getting infected while pregnant:
- can increase your risk of hospitalization
- may put your baby at risk for complications
Talk to your health care provider, or your local public health unit or office about COVID-19 vaccination to help protect you and your baby during pregnancy.
Learn more:
Flu vaccine
Protection for you
During flu season, anyone who's pregnant or planning to become pregnant should get the flu vaccine. The flu is more likely to cause severe illness during pregnancy because your body goes through many changes. These changes can affect the immune system, heart and lungs.
Such changes make it harder for your body to fight off infections, increasing the risk of complications or hospitalization.
You can get the flu vaccine at any stage of your pregnancy, no matter which trimester you're in.
Protection for your baby
Receiving the flu vaccine during pregnancy also helps to protect your baby who is at increased risk for serious flu complications. This is important because babies younger than 6 months can't get vaccinated against the flu. Your flu vaccine helps protect your baby from the flu for the first few months after birth.
During flu season, if you didn't get the flu vaccine while pregnant, you should get it as soon as possible after giving birth. Ideally, this would be before discharge from the hospital.
Pertussis vaccine
During each pregnancy, you should get the Tdap vaccine, which protects against pertussis, even if you've received it before. You should ideally get it when you're between 27 and 32 weeks pregnant.
The 'ap' in this vaccine refers to acellular pertussis, also known as whooping cough. The other letters indicate 't' for tetanus and 'd' for diphtheria.
Pertussis is particularly dangerous for infants under 2 months of age because they:
- are too young to be vaccinated
- can develop serious complications if they get infected
RSV vaccine
Individuals who are pregnant can be vaccinated against RSV to prevent severe RSV disease in infants.
Vaccination offers similar protection to providing an injection of monoclonal antibodies directly to the infant after birth. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins that recognize specific parts of the virus to help prevent the virus from causing severe illness. Usually only one or the other is needed. Talk to your health care provider, or your local public health unit or office to understand what options are available to protect your infant.
Other vaccines
Your health care provider may recommend other vaccines in certain high-risk situations. For example:
- during an outbreak
- if you've been exposed to a disease
- if you're travelling to an area where a disease is common
- when indicated due to a health condition or other risk factors, such as a weakened immune system or chronic medical condition
Talk to your health care provider, or your local public health unit or office about additional vaccines that may be beneficial during pregnancy based on your individual risk factors. These vaccines include:
- hepatitis B
- pneumococcal
- meningococcal
- human papillomavirus (HPV)
Learn more:
If you're travelling abroad while pregnant
Travelling to other countries can increase your risk for certain diseases. Vaccination may prevent diseases that are rare in Canada but common in other parts of the world.
Talk to a health care provider or visit a travel health clinic preferably 6 weeks before travelling to get personalized health advice. Even if your travel date is coming up soon, it's still worthwhile to make an appointment.
The vaccines you may need will depend on several factors, including:
- where you plan to travel
- planned activities
- the length of your trip
- other individual health or risk factors
Learn more: