Baby Immunisation

Your baby's immunisation timetable

As parents we want to protect our children from harm but in the case of immunisation, it can seem difficult to know what to do best.

Immunisation has been practiced for more than a century - it has become routine for most children and goes virtually unquestioned. However, there are now lots of confusing and conflicting scare stories in the news. On one hand we are told about falling levels of vaccinations and the possibility of our children suffering long term effects from contracting one of the so-called preventable diseases. On the other hand, we're warned about children being damaged irrevocably by the effects of a vaccine.*

Many potentially dangerous diseases have become rare now, thanks to immunisation. However, parents worrying about the controversial MMR vaccine ( measles, mumps and rubella) has resulted in a reduced take-up of this jab - in fact, vaccination levels have fallen well below Government targets in some parts of the UK. In recent months, immunisation rates have also dropped for the DTP-Hib vaccinations, which protect your baby against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough) and Hib meningitis.

When you catch a disease, your body retains a memory of the disease and recognises the disease-causing germ - so if your baby is exposed to a disease, he produces anti-bodies that fight off the disease before it has a chance to cause illness again. Vaccines contain an altered or killed non-infectious form of the disease, and stimulate your baby's immune system to produce anti-bodies without him ever having to become infected by that particular disease.

If you want to talk to a health visitor about immunisation, we have a special Health Professional Advice Centre at all our Baby Shows. You can talk through any concerns and take away informative leaflets. Book your Baby Show ticket now and plan in some relaxing time to sit down with a health visitor.

* The research linking the MMR with a rise in autism has recently been discredited.

So how do you make the right choice for your baby?

Parents are naturally worried about potential side-effects from the vaccinations now being given to our children. However, if children aren't vaccinated, there won't be the 'herd immunity' needed to prevent epidemics. Diseases such as measles can cause lasting disabilities, while a rubella epidemic could harm unborn babies if their mothers contract rubella in pregnancy. Unfortunately there are no easy answers. There's no doubt there's some element of risk on either side of the great vaccination divide, but it is important to keep these risks in perspective when you're making vital decisions about your child's health.

*Information from the Department of Health