Maternal benefits of immunization during pregnancy

The US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention currently recommend routine immunization to prevent 17 vaccine-preventable diseases that occur in infants, children, adolescents, or adults. Pregnant women are at particularly high risk for morbidity and mortality related to several vaccine-preventable diseases. Furthermore, such illnesses are also associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as spontaneous abortion, congenital anomalies, preterm birth, and low birthweight. In addition to directly preventing maternal infection, vaccination during pregnancy may offer fetal and infant benefit through passive immunization. Several vaccines aimed at providing passive immunity to neonates are either currently recommended or in development. This article specifically addresses maternal benefits of maternal immunization following (1) vaccines recommended for all pregnant women; (2) vaccines recommended for pregnant women with particular risk factors; and (3) novel vaccines currently under development that primarily aim to at reduce infant morbidity and mortality.