Rubella Vaccine During Pregnancy - What Can Happen If You Aren’t MMR Vaccinated?

What Is Rubella/MMR Vaccine?

MMR vaccination or MMRV is given to women to prevent the mild viruses like measles, mumps and rubella from entering their bodies. And to make sure that in future, might not get transmitted to their unborn babies and lead to cause several severe diseases like cataract, deafness and abortion etc. or even death of the baby after delivery. The vaccine is quite safe and most side effects of rubella vaccine are very mild and short-lived.

Time Of MMR Vaccination in Pregnancy

MMR vaccine should be given 1-2 month or before pregnancy. It is safe for you to receive vaccines right after giving birth, even while you are breastfeeding. However, talk to your healthcare professional before getting vaccinated.

What Rubella Virus Can Cause If You Aren’t Vaccinated?

MMR is actually an abbreviation used for Measles, Mumps and Rubella viruses. In non-pregnant woman it’s harmless but woman during the first 3 months of pregnancy it’s very harmful. Baby can get this infection from a person presence (who was already affected by rubella) coughing and sneezing in baby’s presence. To understand more about these viruses thoroughly and also to understand if woman does not go through MMR vaccination, how dangerously it can affect a pregnant woman and her fetus, keep reading.

Measles

It is contagious and transmitted from person to person by droplets of saliva, nasal discharge or close contact. 10 days after the symptoms like fever, sneezing, nasal discharge, cough, and redness of the eye, vomiting and diarrhoea, a reddish rash appears behind the ears. Within two to three days rash covers the whole body. Since, it affects the immune system making the baby more vulnerable to infections which can further lead to malnutrition, lymph node enlargement and tuberculosis.                       

Also Read: How Chicken Pox Is Different from Measles?

Mumps

It is another alarming disease. It causes painful swelling of the parotid salivary glands, earache on the affected side (even before the swelling of the glands begin), fever, headache, muscular pain and loss of appetite and also the pain and the stiffness while opening the mouth. The fever lasts 1-6 days and swelling for 10 to 12 days. It is extremely infectious. Just like measles, mumps too has serious complications like Orchitis in males and Inflammation of the breasts and ovaries in females, which may lead to infertility.

Rubella

Unfortunately, only a few people know about this treacherous cube shaped virus. This infection is very mild, a slight fever, a tired feeling and a mild rash could be some common symptoms of rubella. It can cross the placenta and affect the unborn baby. Even though it is mild, it can create severe problems. 10 to 20 % of newborn babies die during the first year and if they survive they could be born with a condition called CRS (Congenital Rubella Syndrome) that can cause complications like cataract, deafness, congenital heart disease or enlargement of liver etc.

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