Interview 24
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Single vaccines had their own problems so she decided to give her son MMR.
Single vaccines had their own problems so she decided to give her son MMR.
And why did you consider, consider the single vaccines?
Because I thought if it was an easy option between, if it was a choice of single or the MMR, and there was always this doubt that maybe the MMR could cause autism and other things, then I would go for the singles. But then when it turned out the singles had their issues, then I preferred the MMR. If the singles had just been very, very straightforward and very, go bang, bang, bang, there's your immunisations, every three months, he'll be done, you know. I mean, yes, 80, '80 a pop, you know, and the travel from my, you know, the, outside London to a clinic. But, no, they started having their own issues and then, so when I weighed it up the MMR just seemed the, the most sensible.
Explains how they made a joint decision for their premature son's MMR immunisation.
Explains how they made a joint decision for their premature son's MMR immunisation.
Talking to other mums who also had premature babies helped her with her decision.
Talking to other mums who also had premature babies helped her with her decision.
The advice and information she got from a paediatrician helped her to decide to give her...
The advice and information she got from a paediatrician helped her to decide to give her...
Did you ask him if he'd done that with his own children?
Yes, yes.
Did that make a difference?
It made a difference to me. I just talked to not lots of doctors, but I just thought, 'He's a really smart guy' you know. I mean he's a consultant for premature babies, he's so smart. I just don't believe in my heart that doctors would give you that information if for one minute they thought it would cause a problem. And I do believe that. I mean he's a very smart guy. And I think if he believed that maybe there are problems he would just say, 'It's your choice. I can't say'. But he did actually really promote it and said, 'It's really important that he gets it'. I mean it was still ultimately my choice, but I felt like he, you know, he's a smart guy, he works in the field, he works with babies all the time and I'm sure he sees the problems of not immunising children.
She was concerned that her premature baby's immune system may not be developed enough, so she...
She was concerned that her premature baby's immune system may not be developed enough, so she...
I think every mum has their concerns but [my consultant] knew mine were more specific to [my son] being young. And that's why I think he said, 'Look, if you're that worried, wait until he's a little bit older, you know, wait till he's corrective age'. Because at 1 year old he would have been actually 9 months old physically. I still think, I mean I think 1 is, I think you look at your child and if they're a small 1 and they've been ill for a while and stuff then it might be good to wait. I also did it, I think I did it in October. I felt like I should do it before winter came in because obviously babies' immune systems and stuff, with colds. And so I sort of thought, 'I'll get it done now before we get to full cold season'.
Learning that MMR had been used in other countries for many years eased her concerns about the...
Learning that MMR had been used in other countries for many years eased her concerns about the...
It's important to help to reduce the incidence of measles to protect pregnant women.
It's important to help to reduce the incidence of measles to protect pregnant women.
Learning that MMR had been used in America and worldwide helped her to reach a decision.
Learning that MMR had been used in America and worldwide helped her to reach a decision.
Her premature baby stopped breathing briefly but he was carefully monitored and he had his second...
Her premature baby stopped breathing briefly but he was carefully monitored and he had his second...
He was born at 26 weeks, which obviously has its own troubles, and he was in hospital for ten weeks. While he was in hospital he had to have his first immunisations at 2 weeks old, which they carried on giving him even though he was still very premature. So he had his injections at 2 weeks. And he had a reaction to it. He stopped breathing, which is very normal for premature babies, as anyone with a premature baby will know. But it was a reaction that obviously when his next lot were coming we were a bit worried. So I think he had his next lot due just after we left, left hospital, when he was about 10, 11 weeks old. So they said we could take him, to come back to the hospital to have the immunisations and be monitored. So we did that, which was, was good and he was totally fine. So that, that was very reassuring. And then I think his next lot were done just at the doctor's, and again he, he was fine with that.