Parents know how easily coughs, colds and other infections can move through a household after a child picks up a bug at childcare or school.

This puts babies with older siblings at greater risk of serious infectious illness, especially while their immune systems are still developing during the critical first months of life. Maternal vaccination during pregnancy helps boost babies’ protection.

But my new research shows a worrying mismatch: vaccination uptake falls during later pregnancies, leaving babies who would benefit most from maternal immunisation less likely to receive that protection.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, vaccination against pertussis, also known as whooping cough, and influenza is publicly funded and recommended during every pregnancy.

These vaccines do not only protect the mother. The maternal antibodies are also transferred to the baby and help protect them.

Previous studies confirm that maternal immunisation substantially reduces babies’ risk of infection and hospitalisation from pertussis and influenza, but my research shows a birth-order pattern of reduced protection.

Immunisation falls with each pregnancy

Vaccination uptake during pregnancy remains far from universal.

Analysis of current Aotearoa........

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