When the tetanus-diphtheria vaccine is given in pregnancy, and the timing of the vaccine that helps protect the baby against whooping cough.
In the video, Prof. Dr. İkbal Kaygusuz explains when and how many doses of tetanus-diphtheria vaccine are given in pregnancy, and why and when a vaccine that also covers whooping cough is recommended. The aim of tetanus vaccination in pregnancy is to prevent tetanus in the newborn. For births in hospital this risk is almost non-existent today; however, since births can take place in unsuitable conditions during emergencies such as earthquakes, she considers it necessary to take precautions.
The Ministry of Health schedule was drawn up as if no one had been vaccinated, because it is not always known whether childhood vaccines were given; for this reason pregnant women are offered a schedule with more than one dose. The video states that for a pregnant woman who knows she completed her childhood vaccines and has not had a tetanus vaccine in the last 10 years, a single dose after week 20 of pregnancy is enough. This vaccine is given at family health centres.
Whooping cough is a different matter. Babies are vaccinated against it from two months of age, but immunity does not develop immediately after the first dose, so the baby is at risk of whooping cough in the first three months. It is most often passed to the baby by the mother and, less often, by other close contacts. Vaccinating the mother in pregnancy with the diphtheria-tetanus-whooping cough vaccine leads to antibodies in the mother; these antibodies pass to the baby and help protect it in the first months after birth.
The recommended window for this vaccine is weeks 27–36 of pregnancy, and the video gives week 30 as the ideal time.
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