Healthcare advisers discourage vaccination

Alternative practitioners, dietitians, nutritionists and antenatal class leaders are the healthcare providers most likely to give negative advice about immunisation, a study says.

The research from the University of Auckland Centre for Longitudinal Research found healthcare providers were responsible for about 18 per cent of discouraging information about immunisation given to pregnant women.

The study surveyed more than 6000 pregnant women and found 152 received a negative message from a healthcare provider about infant immunisation.

The study also found women who received discouraging advice, even if they also received positive messages, were less likely to have their infants immunised on time at six weeks, three months and five months.

Senior author Professor Cameron Grant said he was concerned to see one in six women who recalled receiving discouraging information identified healthcare providers as a source.

Fifty- seven per cent of women who received only discouraging information had their newborn immunised on time compared with 61 per cent who received mixed messages and 73 per cent who received encouraging advice.

More than half the women surveyed ( 66 per cent) did not recall getting any advice about immunisation. Of those mothers, 71 per cent had their children immunised on time.

Cameron was most concerned that the majority of pregnant women did not receive any information about immunising their newborns.

While the advice given by most healthcare providers was positive, he did not think any medical professionals should be discouraging immunisation.

Getting encouraging information was no more effective in getting babies vaccinated on time than no information but the ambiguity created by mixed messages was a concern.

Alternative health care providers most commonly gave discouraging advice with 82 per cent of women who received immunisation information from them getting negative or mixed advice. Of the women who got advice from dietitians or nutritionists, 60 per cent got discouraging information and in antenatal classes 21 per cent got mixed or negative advice.

That compared with discouraging or mixed advice coming from 2 per cent of GPs, 6 per cent of midwives and 3 per cent of obstetricians.