The Waikato District Health Board is offering free whooping cough vaccinations to women from 20 weeks of pregnancy up until to two weeks after the birth of their babies.
Several infants in the region have already fallen very ill after contracting the illness from family members.
Waikato DHB's Clare Coles says the outbreak is a national one, but the board feels so strongly about protecting babies it's funding the free vaccine.
Whooping cough is a very contagious illness which causes bouts of severe coughing.
The symptoms can last up to three months and can be especially severe in infants less than a year old.
