The flu vaccination for pregnant women protects newborn babies and pregnant women from flu. Pregnant women can be vaccinated against flu from the 22nd week of pregnancy.
The flu vaccination in short
| Protects against | Flu |
|---|---|
| Given to | Pregnant women who are 22 weeks pregnant or more between 15 October an 1 March |
| Protection | The baby is protected during the first 6 months |
| Common side effects | Muscle pain, headache, pain at the injection site. Side effects are rare and usually mild |
Why should you get a flu vaccination?
The flu vaccination protects your baby and you from the flu. Newborn babies are more likely to develop severe flu symptoms. They can get extreme shortness of breath. Every year in the Netherlands, about 300 babies end up in hospital due to flu. If you have the flu vaccination during your pregnancy, the baby will have a lower risk of getting the flu.
If you are pregnant and get flu, you may become more severely ill than if you are not pregnant. Every year, around 11,000 pregnant women get flu. About 45 of them end up in the hospital.
You can get the flu vaccination:
- between 15 October en 1 March
- if you are 22 weeks pregnant or more
Your child is adequately protected if you had the vaccinations at least 2 weeks before giving birth.
The flu vaccination stops being effective after about six months. For that reason, it makes less sense to get vaccinated if you are pregnant or due to give birth outside of the winter months
Do you already get invited to have a flu vaccination by your General Practitioner (GP)?
If, for medical reasons, you are already invited to have a flu vaccination, nothing changes. You can get the flu vaccination from your GP, even if you are less than 22 weeks pregnant.
After you have the vaccination, your body starts making antibodies against the flu virus. These antibodies reach your baby via the placenta. They protect your baby against flu for the first few months after birth. You will also be protected after vaccination. If you or your baby do get flu, the symptoms are usually quite mild. The vaccine itself does not reach your baby, only your antibodies.
Babies born to pregnant women who have had a flu vaccination are about 35% less likely to get flu. The risk of hospitalisation due to flu is about 70% lower in babies. If a baby does get flu, the symptoms are usually mild.
Yes, the flu vaccination is safe for you and your baby. The flu vaccine is an inactivated (dead) vaccine. It does not contain a live virus.
Almost all countries in Europe have been vaccinating pregnant women against flu for years. The same is true of many other countries in the rest of the world. As a result, we know that the flu vaccination during pregnancy is safe, for the pregnant woman and for the baby.
The most common side effects of the flu vaccination are pain at the injection site, lack of energy, muscle pain and headache. The side effects are almost always mild and stop within a few days. Pregnant women can tolerate the flu vaccination just as well as those who are not pregnant.
You can have the vaccination at the youth healthcare organisation (well-baby clinic). The gynaecologist will discuss this with you.
You can also find your region’s youth healthcare organisation by entering your postcode at:
> Make an appointment for the flu vaccination for pregnant women
It is safe to have the whooping cough vaccination and the flu vaccination at the same time. The vaccines work just as well together as they do separately. It does not increase the risk of side effects.
The flu vaccination does not affect breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is safe after the flu vaccination.
The flu vaccination is an inactivated (dead) vaccine. As a result, no live flu virus that could end up in the breast milk is administered to pregnant women.
Breast milk also contains antibodies. However, these do not protect against flu and whooping cough. Even if you are breastfeeding, the vaccination you get during pregnancy is necessary to protect your child properly.
Video
Vaccinations during pregnancy’
In deze animatievideo wordt uitgelegd waarom het verstandig is om je je tijdens je zwangerschap te laten vaccineren, hoe het precies werkt en waar je terug kunt.
VOICE-OVER: "Je tijdens de zwangerschap laten vaccineren om je baby te beschermen, hoe zit dat? Pasgeboren baby’s zijn
erg vatbaar voor kinkhoest en griep. Ze kunnen hier ernstig ziek van worden. Wil je jouw baby hiertegen beschermen? Dan kun je je tijdens
de zwangerschap laten vaccineren.
Met de 22-wekenprik bescherm je je baby al vanaf de geboorte tegen kinkhoest. En met de griepprik bescherm je
je baby tegen ernstige gevolgen van griep. Maar, hoe werkt dit eigenlijk?"
Als je gevaccineerd wordt, maakt je lichaam antistoffen aan tegen een bepaalde ziekte. Deze beschermen jou, én ook je baby.
Via de placenta geef je namelijk continu voedingsstoffen door. En als je antistoffen hebt, geef je die dus ook door. Zo heeft jouw baby de eerste maanden minder kans op het krijgen van griep en veel minder kans op kinkhoest. Daarbij, ben je zelf óók
beter beschermd tegen deze ziektes. En dat komt goed uit, je energie kun je nu namelijk wel ergens
anders voor gebruiken. Beide prikken zijn gratis en je kunt ze halen bij het consultatiebureau.
Meer weten over vaccineren tijdens je zwangerschap? Kijk dan op deverloskundige.nl/griepprik"
Logo's Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM), de Koninklijke Nederlandse Organisatie van Verloskundigen (KNOV), de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Obstetrie en Gynaecologie (NVOG) en de Verloskundige.