How getting vaccinated during pregnancy can help protect your baby after they are born
How your baby’s immune system develops
Acquired immunity
This is the immunity you build as your immune system comes into contact with pathogens—either through getting sick or getting vaccinated. Your body learns how to defend itself against these pathogens, which can help protect you against serious diseases. Newborns don’t have this yet, but you do.
Innate immunity
Your baby will be born with this. It is their body’s first line of defence and includes things like the cough reflex, mucus (which traps bacteria and small particles), skin, stomach acid, and even the fever response.
Passive immunity
Your baby will also be born with passive immunity—protection they get from you. Throughout your pregnancy, your placenta transfers antibodies to your baby, and this transfer ramps way up during the third trimester. That means that some of your acquired immunity gets shared with your baby, to help protect them from the time of their very first breath. This also means that the passive immunity your baby is born with depends on what you have been exposed to, either through getting sick or getting vaccinated.
To help boost your baby’s passive immunity, some vaccines are recommended during pregnancy
Babies are born with an immature immune system, which can put them at a higher risk of infections.
Preemies—babies born before 37 weeks—are particularly vulnerable to infections, especially those that affect the respiratory tract (lungs), such as RSV.
Because we cannot predict when a baby will be born, some vaccines are recommended in all pregnancies to help protect newborns during their most vulnerable period. These vaccines are given to you, and then the antibodies are transferred to your baby through your placenta, along with the other antibodies you provide.
These vaccines provide passive immunity for certain respiratory illnesses that can be especially dangerous for young babies.
What vaccines are recommended during pregnancy?
Vaccines that are recommended during pregnancy fall into two main categories:
Vaccines that will help provide protection from the most common respiratory conditions that may pose a risk during pregnancy or during the baby’s vulnerable first months. These vaccines are generally recommended in every pregnancy.
Vaccines that are based on specific risk factors that the parent may have to help protect them during pregnancy.
RSV is a respiratory virus that can have serious consequences for babies.
Talk to your pregnancy care provider about how getting ABRYSVO during your pregnancy can help protect your baby from RSV.
ABRYSVO is a vaccine to help prevent disease of the lower respiratory tract (lungs) caused by RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). ABRYSVO is given to pregnant individuals (from 32 through 36 weeks’ gestation) to protect their infants from birth through 6 months of age, and individuals 60 years of age and older. As with any vaccine, ABRYSVO will not protect 100% of those who receive it. ABRYSVO is not a treatment for RSV infection or its complications. Like all vaccines, ABRYSVO can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.
For more information, please consult the Product Monograph or call 1-800-463-6001.