Guidance

Pertussis (whooping cough) immunisation for pregnant women: resources and training

Vaccination resources for health professionals and immunisation practitioners.

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Resources for health professionals

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that the pertussis vaccination in pregnancy programme, which started in October 2012, should be continued until at least June 2019. Department of Health (DH) resources to support whooping cough vaccination programme for pregnant women are available.

Training resource on pertussis vaccination in pregnancy for health professionals

UK Health Security Agency has also developed resources to support the training of health care professionals involved in vaccination against pertussis in pregnancy.

These resources are designed to support the training of health care professionals involved in the programme to vaccinate pregnant women against pertussis and to help them provide pregnant women with evidence based information about vaccination against pertussis. Please see:

Resources for commissioners

David Flory, Deputy NHS Chief Executive, has written a letter to commissioners to outline the commissioning arrangements for primary care trusts (PCTs) including details of a nationally agreed service specification with the General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association. PCTs should use this locally with GP practices to establish vaccination services quickly.

Published 11 October 2012