Vanessa Mata

Maternal
Vaccines

A study showed that women who take a maternal (Tdap) vaccine during their
pregnancy had significant protection for their infant against pertussis (whooping
cough), especially during the first two months of life, as well as the first year of life
for their child. Wanting to know the effectiveness of maternal (Tdap)vaccines before
an infant's first dose of (DTaP) vaccine, scientist did a "retrospective cohort study of
infants born at Kaiser Permanente Northern California from 2010 to 2015".1 The
study concluded that maternal Tdap vaccines adds in the protection of infants DTaP
vaccine.
The article broke down what the primary source concluded, including the study
scientist did and the results. It concluded and allowed the reader to understand
the importance and the advantages of women being vaccinated during their
pregnancy. An easier way for information to be retained and understood.
Prenatal care is already expensive and added expenses are not something that
every family can afford, and if it this vaccine isn't mandatory the question of
whether one's insurance will cover it will certainly be a discussion for many. In
regards to the controversy of vaccines and anti-vacciners the need for this vaccine
will be scrutinized and be another way for misinformation to be spread about
vaccines, however it does sound like there will be a lot less of whooping cough in
infants, and the prevention and protection of it from infants will be higher.
The CDC was mentioned in the article recommending mothers be vaccinated, but
if associated with a for-profit organized the credibility of the information would be
viewed, like anything dealing with for- profit organizations, as biased. Associated
with a pharmaceutical company would lead me to assume that this vaccine would
be incredibly expensive, and probably out of the means of many mothers from
obtaining.
Choosing this article was purely curiosity, the need for whooping cough vaccines
for mothers was an interesting title to me. Why would mothers need this if, under
that assumption, the individuals were already vaccinated for it. The article gave
me the information as to why pregnant women should be vaccinated and the
benefits it has for their children. I already believe that vaccines are important and
prevent diseases from spreading and any information to pass forward as to why
vaccines are important is always reason to gather more information on a subject.
The article was well written it set up the information in a concise manner and
allowed for the reader to see that there was research done and also provided other
sources to back up the importance of the subject, the CDC in this case. The author
broke the primary source down into understandable bites of information. Flowing
from the need for the maternal vaccine, to the study that provided that the majority
of whooping cough cases came from unvaccinated mothers, and concluded with the
author of the study with a statement reaffirming the main point of the article, that
pregnant women should be vaccinated to further the protection of their babies
during a time when ones baby is unprotected against whooping cough.
-------------------------
1. Bakalar, Nicholas. "Pregnant Mothers Need Whooping Cough
Vaccine." The New York TImes. April 6, 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/well/family/pregnant-mothers-
need-whooping-cough- vaccine.html?rref=collection
%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection
=healthion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&content
Placement=5&pgtype=se ctionfront&_r=0.

Bibliogra
phy
Bakalar, Nicholas. "Pregnant Mothers Need Whooping Cough
Vaccine." The New York TImes. April 6, 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/well/family/pregnant-mothers-
need- whooping-cough- vaccine.html?rref=collection
%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection
=healthion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&content
Placement=5&pgtype=se ctionfront&_r=0.
Baxter, Roger, Joan Barlett, Bruce Firman, Edwin Lewis, and Nicola
P. Klein. "Effectiveness of Vaccination During Pregnancy to Prevent
Infant Pertussis." AAP News & Journals Gateway. April 2017.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2017/03/30/ped
s.2016-
4091.
Vanessa Mata
Reflecti
on
The article I choose didnt really change my view on science but gave me
more information as to why science is an important subject and the need for
the advancements in it. There was no public debates in regards to my
article or any other articles that I did read, but if there was I think there
would certainly be a lot of anti-vacciners spreading misinformation about
maternal vaccines and the benefits it has on newborns.
Knowing that maternal vaccinations give an individuals newborn a better
chance at protection against whooping cough and that is it recommended by
the CDC, which is an independent non- profit established by Congress, its
safe to say its very beneficial, however, as I mentioned in my analysis, how
will this effect ones expenses? Will it be covered by an individuals insurance,
or is it affordable for all or only those who can afford this extra expense.
Understanding that its beneficial to ones newborn is great and of course it
would be something that most, if not all, mothers would want, however
because its not actually mandatory only recommended whats the
difference in expenses? So this article raises economic issues, which wasnt
answered in the article or the primary source.
I already believe that science is important, even if Im not very good at it, but
this class just made that fact for me more sound. I have a better
understanding of whats going on in my body and how certain things in my
body works. Which is very beneficial for me because it furthers my artistic
ability, not only with a further understanding of the anatomy of the human
body, but with a deeper understanding of how the body moves, and what
allows it to move. What the muscles are made of and how they look under
the skin, and even with story material for future projects. Not only did this
class allow me to know that, yes, science is important but it also very
important in other subjects, like art. I understood, even before this class, that
we as humans have a huge effect on the planet and the decisions we make
for the future will have a huge impact, good or bad. Im hoping for good, of
course, because we currently only have one planet that can sustain life
within this solar system. Who knows about the rest of the Milky Way, which is
exciting to think about, but of course that probably wont be in my life time
and so with knowing that, I will do what I can for a better future for the
generations to come and that might mean small things like recycling or
donating what I can, or even just being an organ donor.