Rates of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, are continuing to rise, according to public health midwife Joanna Melia.
Whooping cough can risk serious illness and complications in babies during the first weeks of their lives, including pneumonia, brain damage and even death, the NHS Humber Health Partnership said. Thankfully, vaccination rates in pregnancy in the Humber and North Yorkshire were the best in England last year, but Joanna said it’s important to keep these numbers high to protect as many babies as possible.
She said: “Whooping cough can be really serious for babies so it’s just not worth the risk of not being vaccinated. The whooping cough vaccine has been given in pregnancy in the UK as a matter of routine since October 2012 and a medical study of around 20,000 vaccinated women found no evidence of risks to pregnancy or the unborn babies.
“In fact, rather than putting your baby at risk, vaccination is the best way you can protect your child in those first few weeks.”
Whooping cough is a serious infection causing long bouts of coughing and choking, making it hard to breathe. The “whoop” is caused by gasping for breath after each bout of coughing, though babies do not always make this noise.
According to Government figures, there were 14,894 cases of whooping cough last year, and sadly, 11 babies died, the NHS said. This is in comparison to 856 cases in 2023.
Already this year, between January and March, there have been 727 cases of whooping cough. Further research into the tragic death of 32 babies as a result of whooping cough highlighted that 26 of the mothers hadn’t received the vaccine in pregnancy.
Vaccination in pregnancy passes immunity to your baby through the placenta, protecting your baby until they can receive their own vaccine at eight weeks old. It is advised that pregnant women should have the whooping cough vaccine around the time of the mid-pregnancy scan, which is usually at around 20 weeks of pregnancy.
A midwife will book the appointment at one of the following vaccination clinics: East Riding Community Hospital in Beverley, Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham and at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital.
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