# Vaccines in infancy and pregnancy Care topic · id `maternal:infant-immunization` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Browse, life stage: Pregnancy; Infant follow-up Browse, care area: The baby's first year ## In plain language Vaccines teach the body's defences to recognise harmful germs before a baby meets them. Babies get routine vaccines at well-child visits on a schedule, and in the United States CDC publishes that schedule. Some vaccines are given to a pregnant person to protect the baby: this atlas has pages on the RSV vaccine and on Tdap in pregnancy, and on an RSV antibody given to babies. ## Technical summary A hub for vaccine pages. MedlinePlus (public domain) explains what vaccines are, why babies need them, that newborns are too young to get some vaccines and that the US schedule is published by CDC; it also says vaccines go through extensive safety testing before approval. The CDC schedule was not read. Vaccines given to the mother are recorded with the mother as the recipient and the baby as the person measured; claims keep the two apart. Linked pages: RSV in infants, RSV vaccination in pregnancy, an RSV antibody for babies, and Tdap in pregnancy. ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Infants and children given routine vaccines (MedlinePlus summary) Recipient: Child; Population: Babies and children who receive routine childhood vaccines, as the MedlinePlus topic Vaccines for Children describes them. The page names the US vaccine schedule published by CDC.; Care setting: Well-child visits (the page names well-child visits as the setting for vaccines).; Geography: United States for the schedule (the page says CDC publishes it); the rest of the page is general; Life stage: Infants and children; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (health topic summary) ### MedlinePlus says vaccines teach the immune system to recognise and defend against harmful germs. It says babies are born with immune systems that can fight most germs but cannot handle some serious diseases, and that newborn babies are too young to get some vaccines, and community immunity can help protect them. Children get vaccines at well-child visits according to a vaccine schedule that lists which vaccines are recommended for children, who should get them, how many doses they need and at what age, and in the United States CDC publishes the schedule. - Category: Description - Evidence stage: Guidance - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Child; Population: Babies and children who receive routine childhood vaccines, as the MedlinePlus topic Vaccines for Children describes them. The page names the US vaccine schedule published by CDC.; Care setting: Well-child visits (the page names well-child visits as the setting for vaccines).; Geography: United States for the schedule (the page says CDC publishes it); the rest of the page is general; Life stage: Infants and children; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (health topic summary) - Limitations: A plain-language health topic summary. It lists no vaccine, dose or age; the CDC schedule was not read (cdc.gov returns HTTP 403 to scripts, per the plan's host checks). Maternal vaccines in pregnancy are on the RSV and Tdap pages. - Last checked: 2026-10-15 - Sources: 1. Supports: Vaccines for Children / Childhood Immunization (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, What are vaccines?, paragraph 1, sentence 1. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:53Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: e159e20f6c62174505079fcdef8b2af2b96b59ba4527d3fdac6a6f4ef992b48a. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 2. Supports: Vaccines for Children / Childhood Immunization (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, Why do I need to vaccinate my child?, paragraph 1, sentence 1. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:53Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: e159e20f6c62174505079fcdef8b2af2b96b59ba4527d3fdac6a6f4ef992b48a. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 3. Supports: Vaccines for Children / Childhood Immunization (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, Why do I need to vaccinate my child?, paragraph 4, sentences 4 and 5. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:53Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: e159e20f6c62174505079fcdef8b2af2b96b59ba4527d3fdac6a6f4ef992b48a. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 4. Supports: Vaccines for Children / Childhood Immunization (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, When do I need to vaccinate my child?, paragraph 1, sentences 1 and 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:53Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: e159e20f6c62174505079fcdef8b2af2b96b59ba4527d3fdac6a6f4ef992b48a. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 5. Supports: Vaccines for Children / Childhood Immunization (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, When do I need to vaccinate my child?, paragraph 1, sentence 3. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:53Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: e159e20f6c62174505079fcdef8b2af2b96b59ba4527d3fdac6a6f4ef992b48a. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 6. Supports: Vaccines for Children / Childhood Immunization (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, When do I need to vaccinate my child?, paragraph 1, sentence 4. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:53Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: e159e20f6c62174505079fcdef8b2af2b96b59ba4527d3fdac6a6f4ef992b48a. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 7. Supports: Vaccines for Children / Childhood Immunization (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, When do I need to vaccinate my child?, paragraph 1, sentence 5. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:53Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: e159e20f6c62174505079fcdef8b2af2b96b59ba4527d3fdac6a6f4ef992b48a. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. ### MedlinePlus says vaccines must go through extensive safety testing and evaluation before they are approved in the United States. It adds that many scientific studies have looked at whether childhood vaccines cause autism spectrum disorder and have found no link between vaccines and autism. - Category: Safety - Evidence stage: Guidance - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Child; Population: Babies and children who receive routine childhood vaccines, as the MedlinePlus topic Vaccines for Children describes them. The page names the US vaccine schedule published by CDC.; Care setting: Well-child visits (the page names well-child visits as the setting for vaccines).; Geography: United States for the schedule (the page says CDC publishes it); the rest of the page is general; Life stage: Infants and children; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (health topic summary) - Limitations: A plain-language summary of safety, not a review of safety studies. The studies it refers to were not read, and the page gives no rates of side effects. - Last checked: 2026-10-15 - Sources: 1. Supports: Vaccines for Children / Childhood Immunization (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, Are vaccines safe for children?, paragraph 1, sentences 2 and 3. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:53Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: e159e20f6c62174505079fcdef8b2af2b96b59ba4527d3fdac6a6f4ef992b48a. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 2. Supports: Vaccines for Children / Childhood Immunization (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, Are vaccines safe for children?, paragraph 2, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:53Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: e159e20f6c62174505079fcdef8b2af2b96b59ba4527d3fdac6a6f4ef992b48a. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. ## Connected pages - Prevention: RSV lower respiratory tract disease in infants (`maternal:infant-rsv-disease`) - Filed under this front: Medicines and vaccines (`maternal:front-medicines-and-vaccines`) - Related to: Whooping cough (pertussis) in young infants (`maternal:infant-pertussis`) ## Provenance Content hash: 2afef7e37932cbbc3bb317117adae140a57fa59c866de1e5b1a052b573a5ed19 Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-15