New mother urges pregnant women to get whooping cough vaccination
When you first find out you’re pregnant, doctors ask you a lot of questions. But one question that often gets pushed under the rug is whether your pertussis, or "whooping cough" vaccination is up to date – because likely it isn’t.
To illustrate the importance of this vaccination, Gold Coast Health in Australia released the above video of Cormit, a new mom whose baby was born with whooping cough.
In the video, Cormit describes how she was offered the vaccination during her 28th week of pregnancy, "but being the healthy, fit, organic woman that I am, I said ‘Leave me alone, I don’t need this crap.’”
Just before giving birth, Cormit had a nagging cough that turned out to be whooping cough.
“Eva was diagnosed with whooping cough, pertussis, and yeah, it’s been a bit of a nightmare.”
She then describes how for the last three weeks, she’s been in hospital with her new baby as she’s experienced extreme coughing fits that have left her blue, sometimes black, in the face.
“It’s a lot of suffering for the tiny, cute thing you love so much.“
Looking back now, she regrets her decision to forgo the vaccination.
“She’s my only child and my first. And if I could turn back time I would have protected myself.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes whooping cough as, “uncontrollable, violent coughing which often makes it hard to breathe.” While the respiratory disease can affect all ages, it’s particularly serious, “even deadly,” for babies less than a year old.
Because of this, Health Canada recommends that all pregnant women ensure that they are up to date on immunizations.
“Pregnant women are a vulnerable population. They have an altered immune response and, for some infections, are at increased risk of infection and at increased risk of severe outcomes once infected. The fetus, neonate and young infant can also be impacted by infections that can results in congenital abnormalities or severe illness.”
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