Mothers give their babies so much – including antibodies that help protect them from infections. If a woman were immunized against an infection before becoming pregnant, might she pass this along to her baby?
A study published in the Oct. 2001 issue of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal found that babies whose mothers received the Hib vaccine before pregnancy had antibodies that protected them from HIB meningitis during the vulnerable period until the babies were old enough to get vaccinated themselves.
Pre-conception vaccination of women may turn out to be the safest and most effective way to prevent devastating newborn infections.
