ABSTRACT
Pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, is a prolonged, distressing, contagious disease caused by a small Gram-negative coccobacillus bacterium known as Bordetella pertussis (Bannister et al. 2006). Pertussis is a notifi able disease, and when a substantial outbreak was noted in 2012 a temporary programme of vaccination for pregnant women at 28-38 weeks’ gestation was introduced (HPA 2012a, JCVI 2012). Th e majority of pertussis-related deaths and severe complications occur in infants aged less than 3 months and the aim was to protect newborn and young babies via passive immunity acquired from the mother. Midwives were required to implement the vaccination programme at short notice. Th e most challenging aspect of this was for midwives to understand the rationale, provide information to parents, be knowledgeable about pertussis and, most important, answer questions regarding the validity and safety of the vaccination programme. Midwives may come into contact with women and their family members who have an upper respiratory tract infection. Th ey will need to be able to recognise the need for referral and take appropriate action should whooping cough be suspected.
