A public health midwife in East Yorkshire is encouraging vaccination from whooping cough during pregnancy following the death of a baby.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed the baby died between January and June this year after its mother did not receive the whooping cough vaccine during pregnancy.

Today, Joanna Melia, public health midwife at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital, said: “This is a personal tragedy for one family which, very sadly, shows the very real consequences of not getting vaccinated during pregnancy.

“Whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the lungs and airways which can be so serious in infants, as this case shows.

“The whooping cough vaccine has been given in pregnancy in the UK as a matter of routine since October 2012 and a study of around 20,000 vaccinated women found no evidence of risks to pregnancy or unborn babies.

“In fact, rather than putting your baby at risk, vaccination is the best way you can protect your child in those first few weeks.”

Whooping cough is a serious infection causing long bouts of coughing and choking, making it hard to breathe. The “whoop” is caused by gasping for breath after each bout of coughing, though babies do not always make this noise.

Research into the deaths of 32 babies who died from whooping cough between 2013 and 2025 showed 26 had mothers who hadn’t received the vaccine in pregnancy. Eleven babies died of whooping cough last year and this case, announced at the weekend by the UKHSA, is the first this year.

Vaccination in pregnancy passes immunity to your baby through the placenta in the same way as they receive nutrients and vitamins and protects them until they receive their own vaccination against whooping cough at eight weeks old.  As well as protecting your baby, you’re also lowering your own risk of infection and so lowering the risk of passing whopping cough to your child.

You should have the whooping cough vaccine around the time of your mid-pregnancy scan, usually at 20 weeks pregnant, but you can have it from 16 weeks and you should get vaccinated before 32 weeks to give your baby the best possible protection.

Your midwife will book your appointment at vaccination clinics at East Riding Community Hospital in Beverley, Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham and at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital.