Hawke’s Bay midwives boost whooping cough vaccines amid epidemic

• Hawke’s Bay Hospital midwives are boosting whooping cough immunisations for expectant mothers with the Boostrix vaccine.
• The vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough, crucial for babies under 6 weeks.
• Lead maternity carer and midwife Laura Beattie reports an 80% uptake.

As New Zealand continues to wrestle with a whooping cough (pertussis) epidemic, more babies are being protected thanks to a push by Hawke’s Bay Hospital midwives to immunise more expectant mothers.

Midwives who run the hospital-based antenatal clinic are working to provide more immunisation opportunities, making it more convenient to get the Boostrix vaccine.

The Boostrix vaccine provides protection against tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough.

According to ESR – the Institute of Environmental Science and Research - there have been 65 confirmed cases of whooping cough in Hawke’s Bay since January 1, 2025.

Health New Zealand declared a whooping cough epidemic across the country in November 2024.

Hospital midwife Georgia Faessen says whooping cough is highly contagious and can cause serious harm to babies, especially those under 6 weeks old who are too young to be vaccinated.

“Immunisation is key to giving babies the best start in life and protects them from serious, preventable diseases,” she said.

Health services across New Zealand continue to respond to a nationwide whooping cough epidemic. Last year, one infant died from whooping cough.

“We know that immunisations save lives,” Faessen said.

“Everyone who comes to clinic is now offered the Boostrix vaccine which protects māmā (mother) and pēpi (baby) from whooping cough.”

The whooping cough pregnancy vaccine is free and is best given from 16 weeks of pregnancy. The vaccine should also be given with each pregnancy to protect each baby.

Laura Beattie, lead maternity carer and hospital midwife, is seeing about an 80% uptake.

“Many appreciate that the vaccine is offered when they are referred to the clinic so that they can get it done on the spot,” Beattie said.

Hawke’s Bay Hospital offers a drop-in immunisation clinic on a Thursday from 9.30am to 11.30am at the antenatal clinic, in the cottage off Omahu Rd.

“We’re improving access to immunisations to help keep our little ones,” Beattie said.

As of January 2025, 86% of children under 5 in Hawke’s Bay were immunised against whooping cough.

One of the Government’s five health targets is to improve childhood immunisation with the goal of having 95% of New Zealand children fully immunised at 24 months of age.

In Hawke’s Bay, childhood immunisation coverage was sitting at 76%.

Most vaccines on the New Zealand immunisation schedule are free and are available at multiple locations around Hawke’s Bay with no doctor enrolment necessary. Locations can be found at the Health New Zealand website.