Vaccinations before and during pregnancy from a public health perspective

Vaccinations represent one of the most important prevention interventions in public health. They are a very valid tool for protecting health even before, during and after pregnancy. It is, in fact, important that the woman is protected during pregnancy from infectious diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox. Today these vaccinations are administered already in childhood and adolescence and it is, therefore, plausible that the woman arrives protected. Despite this, the gynecologist must arrange serological tests to verify his or her protective status. Another important vaccine to be promoted before pregnancy is the one against the Human Papilloma Virus. This too is now offered to girls and boys in adolescence.

Why is it important to protect women and their embryo before the start of pregnancy? Because these are pathogenic microorganisms capable of crossing the placental barrier and causing damage to the unborn child, damage that is all the more serious the earlier the time of infection.

There are also infections that you can protect yourself from during pregnancy. This is the case with the DTPA (Diphtheria-Tetanus-Acellular Pertussis) vaccine.

What is the reason for these vaccinations during pregnancy? The goal is to protect the baby in the very first weeks after birth, when it can benefit from the maternal antibodies produced during pregnancy. These vaccinations, in fact, are recommended around the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy. In the newborn, the vaccination process begins - then - from the second month.

In addition, flu and SARS COV-2 vaccinations, which are recommended in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, can also be safely carried out during pregnancy.

Pregnancy thus also becomes an opportunity to intercept women in a very delicate phase of their lives and it is important to reassure women about the safety of these vaccinations. In this way, they will be more likely to accompany their children on the subsequent vaccination process.