Maternal Vaccines
Without immunizations, diseases we are now protected against could easily return.
Did you know?
- Immunizations and vaccines are one of the most important ways to protect yourself and your unborn child(ren) against serious, preventable infectious diseases.
- Immunizations are extremely safe as a result of advances in medical research and ongoing review by doctors, researchers, and public health officials.
- While small risks accompany every immunization, pregnant women are far more likely to be seriously harmed by vaccine-preventable diseases than by the recommended immunizations that prevent them.
- Medical advances have resulted in the availability of additional safe and effective vaccines. Now, people can be protected against a greater number of serious preventable diseases.
- Immunization benefits not just the individual, but also the community. Communicable infectious diseases spread among people who have not been immunized, and among the small percentage of people for whom the immunization may not have been fully effective.
- Immunizations work by strengthening the body's own immune system.
- While breastfeeding and vitamins have health benefits, they do not replace the benefits of vaccines in preventing infectious diseases.
Immunization Clinics
Immunization clinics at Mid-Michigan District Health Department provide vaccinations for pregnant women as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP). Appointments are preferred. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call:
Clinton County: 989-224-2195, option 5 and then option 2
Gratiot County: 989-875-3681, option 5 and then option 2
Montcalm County: 989-831-5237, option 5 and then option 2
Pregnant Women and Immunization
Pregnant women should consider the following vaccines to better protect themselves and the fetus:
Trivalent (Inactivated) Influenza Vaccine (TIV)
This vaccine is recommended due to increased risk for influenza-related complications. Women who will be pregnant during the influenza season should be vaccinated to reduce the risk.
Hepatitis B Vaccine (hep B)
Hepatitis B virus infection affecting a pregnant woman may result in severe disease for the mother and chronic infection for the new born. Therefore, neither pregnancy nor lactation should be considered a contraindication to vaccination.
Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis Vaccine (Tdap)
Pertussis (whooping cough) is a highly contagious infection of the respiratory tract. This disease can cause serious complications in infants. By getting Tdap during pregnancy, maternal pertussis antibodies transfer to the newborn, likely providing protection against pertussis in early life, before the baby starts getting DTaP vaccines.
A dose of Tdap should be administered during each pregnancy irrespective of the prior history of receiving Tdap. To maximize the maternal antibody response and passive antibody transfer to the infant, optimal timing for Tdap administration is between 27 and 36 weeks of gestation.
For women not previously vaccinated with Tdap, if Tdap is not administered during pregnancy, Tdap should be administered immediately postpartum.
Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine (PPV23)
This vaccine is recommended for women with high-risk conditions.
Pregnant women should AVOID the following vaccines during pregnancy:
Live, Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV)
Pregnant women should receive inactivated influenza vaccine.
Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
A risk to the fetus from administration of these live virus vaccines cannot be excluded for theoretical reasons. Women should be counseled to avoid becoming pregnant for 4 weeks after vaccination with measles or mumps vaccines. or MMR or other rubella-containing vaccines.
Varicella (VAR)
The effect of varicella virus vaccine on the fetus is unknown; therefore, pregnant women should not be vaccinated. Nonpregnant women who are vaccinated should avoid becoming pregnant for 4 weeks following each injection.
Other Pregnancy and Immunization Resources
Immunization Quick Links
Links for Providers
- Vaccine Information sheets (VIS)
- Vaccine Schedules for Providers
- Vaccine Preventable Diseases
- MDHHS Immunization Waver Information
- MDHHS Info for Providers
- Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (The Pink Book)
- MDHHS Perinatal Hep B Manual
- Guide to Vaccine Contraindications and Precautions
Other Immunization Related Links
- Why Immunize According to the CDC?
- Allied Vaccine Group
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Immunization Program
- Immunization Action Coalition
- The Vaccine Page
- MDHHS Immunization Website
- Alliance for Immunization in Michigan
- American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
- Vaccinate your baby
- U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- Vaccine Education Center (VEC)
Vaccines for Travel
Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR)
The Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR) is a lifespan registry including citizens of all ages in the MCIR. MCIR benefits health care organizations, schools, licensed childcare programs, pharmacies and Michigan’s citizens by consolidating immunization information from multiple providers into a comprehensive immunization record. This consolidation reduces vaccine-preventable diseases and over-vaccination, allowing providers to view up-to-date patient immunization history in one system.