Sambo the hossy should just give it to you, you shouldn't have to supply your own....well in NSW you don't.
All close carers (entitled to Medicare of couse) get it for free
Again, thank you all for your responses - they are so helpful!
Kaz, great to know. My friend did the same thing and also had no side effects. So that sounds promising
Jitterbug, BF was a concern of mine...so good to hear that you had no issues.
Kim, it is different for different states. Apparently all states get assigned an immunisation grant from the Federal government and each state decides what medications / vaccinations they would like to subsidise. QLD, unfortunately doesn't have the Boostrix / Adecel vaccine on PBS...so we have to fork out $72 a pop with no rebate (unlike some other states where it is totally free for immediate carers). Quite silly really, considering there have been so many SE QLD outbreaks...
You *might* be able to get it for free... I have a brochure about the free immunisation clinics they run for newborns and in the corner it says "Immunise yourself too. Protect your newborn and take advantage of our adult whooping cough vaccine." I'm not sure if that means they are free as well or not because we didn't know about it at the time we did ours but might be worth looking into.
We asked my parents who will be the main carers besides me and DH to get the immunisation too (cause I am having a c-section, I need some help with DD jic anyone was wondering why my parents will be main carers).. That was all good until my Mum was waiting nearly 3 months for the vaccine as there was a shortage. Thankfully it came 2 days before she left to go to Dubbo to help my brother out for a while..
But when it was looking like she may not get the vaccine in time, I was discussing this with the pharmacist that I always go to about my concern. He advised that although the best protection is the vaccine, if the caregivers are not in regular contact with children, and are very cautious about hygiene when in public places, then the chances of them contracting it and passing on are considerably lower. Also the vaccine doesn't stop you getting the disease, just a more mild dose of it.
My SIL knows our feelings on this and was considering getting the vaccine just so she could bring the kids down to see the new baby.. I told her the decision was hers and I wasn't going to force the issue. Both her kids are immunised and even though she works in a hospital she is on a ward (not A&E) so the chances of somebody having it and it not being known about and her contracting it are quite low (and I can't expect someone to pay $80 for the one that includes some other vaccines as well, just because the basic whooping cough one is out of stock).
Now my il's (who my DH asked to consider the vaccine), is another story that I won't go into here, but will send you a message on FB today or tomorrow..
I'm in NSW and was able to get it for free. Uni told me to get it, because I *could* (but unlikely) be exposed to whooping cough through working with kids when I do my pracs. I got the combination one that also includes diptheria and tetanus. I just went to my GP and asked for it and he had it there in the fridge and gave it to me on the spot, for free.
There not really too much information on the effects of the vaccine on your baby when you aare pregnant (i mention this because there are actually some vaccines you can get when pregnant in certain circumstances)... But do get it asap after baby is born if you are worried about not being immune to it. Its not a problem to get it when breastfeeding.
Whooping cough is very infectious, you can be infectious before you know you have it. There was a whooping cough outbreak last year within the day care my daughter goes to... she luckily didnt get sick - she's been immunised. However each of the kids there that got whooping cough werent immunised.
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