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In a national cross-sectional survey analyzing vaccination attitudes during pregnancy and among parents of children aged 0–5 years, researchers found a number of pregnant women and parents may be unsure when it comes to the decision to vaccinate their kids or may refuse some vaccines, as published in JAMA Network Open. In the survey sets, 35-40% of US pregnant women and parents of young children say they do intend to vaccinate their child as recommended. Results also showed refusal of some or all recommended vaccines was lowest among first-time moms (4%) and highest among parents (33%). However, uncertainty (“I don’t know” response) about childhood vaccination was highest among first-time moms (48%) and lowest among parents of young children (4%). Surveys asked 174 pregnant women and 1,765 parents about their intent to have their child receive all recommended vaccines by 18 months.
Bottom line: The findings suggest there is opportunity during pregnancy to engage expectant parents and support their vaccination decision-making, the authors state.