Vaccinations For New Babies

Vaccinations for new babies

In the early decades of the 20th century smallpox was a common childhood illness – now it is virtually unknown, thanks to vaccines. The same can be said of rubella, polio and other once-common childhood illnesses. Many reliable studies point to the conclusion that immunization through vaccination is an important factor in newborn health. So what do we need to know about vaccinations for new babies?

Developing foetuses receive immunization protection in part from antibodies supplied by the mother through the umbilical cord. But after birth the newborn immune system is still immature, and it will be a year before the child develops the full complement of antibodies that help fight off ever-present bacteria, viruses and other disease-causing germs.

During those first critical months, breastfeeding mothers can help supply their newborns with protective antibodies through colostrum and breast milk. Some mothers can’t breastfeed, however, and even mother’s milk doesn’t supply full protection against the wide number of potential diseases. The only way parents can give their child extra protection is by having them vaccinated.

Vaccinations stimulate the body’s immune system, which has evolved to recognize ‘foreign invaders’ and to release antibodies to combat them. The organisms in the vaccine are benign and can’t cause disease, but the body still releases the antibodies and so builds up an immunity should live, functioning germs ever be encountered.

Decades of clinical research and common experience confirm the view that vaccines do work. In the rare instance that a child still does get one of the diseases he has been vaccinated against, the symptoms are often drastically reduced. What, in generations past, might have been a permanently crippling disease – or even a death sentence – is now almost always nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

While no vaccination is completely without risk, modern genetically modified viruses used in vaccines represent a very low risk indeed. It is virtually unknown for a child to develop rubella from a vaccine, for example. But why take any risk, no matter how small? Because the risks of serious harm should the child contract the disease the vaccination protects against are high enough to warrant it. Thanks to widespread vaccination over the past few generations many of these diseases are rare in the U.S. and elsewhere. But the potential effects are still serious. This tips the risk-benefit ratio heavily in favor of vaccinations.

Vaccinations are an excellent way to help give your newborn the best possible start in his or her fight against disease. Stimulating the immune system early in life to develop antibodies against disease-causing organisms drastically lowers the odds of contracting the disease later in life. This has proven true with whooping cough, rubella, diphtheria, smallpox, chicken pox, polio and many more that only a few generations ago devastated entire communities. For your baby it is nothing more onerous than a small jab they will have forgotten about in a few minutes.