Immunizations: Protecting your newborns before they are born - 19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|News, Weather, Sports

The American Academy of Pediatrics released a new immunization schedule Monday and it's one they say will better protect infants, especially newborns.

Having your baby vaccinated can be a trying experience, especially for first time parents.

But now a new recommendation suggests moms to be, take a shot for their newborn.

"The one major change in the vaccine schedule is that there is now a recommendation that all women with their pregnancies get a whooping cough vaccine. It's a combination whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus vaccine with every single pregnancy," said Dr. Mike Macknin.

The recommendation is in response to the growing number of whooping cough cases and the fact that infants are more at risk of contracting whooping cough before they can be immunized themselves.

Women should get the vaccine anywhere from the 27th to 36th week of pregnancy.

There are other minor changes to the immunization schedule that can be explained by your pediatrician but the key according to Dr. Macknin is to stay on the immunization schedule.

"The important part about the schedule is that children should go out and get their vaccine. There's nothing we do that's better for children than give them their immunizations and it's still not too late to get your flu vaccine for this year if you haven't gotten it," said Dr. Mike Macknin.

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