Abstract
Introduction
Maternal vaccination is increasingly part of antenatal care in the UK and worldwide. Trials of Group B streptococcus vaccines are ongoing. This study investigated the attitudes of pregnant women and healthcare professionals towards antenatal vaccination, both in routine care and a clinical trial setting.
Material and methods
Survey of 269 pregnant women, 273 midwives/obstetricians and 97 neonatal doctors across seven sites in the UK assessing attitudes towards antenatal vaccinations, knowledge of Group B streptococcus, a hypothetical Group B streptococcus vaccine, and participation in clinical vaccine trials.
Results
68% of pregnant women intended to receive a vaccine during their current pregnancy (183/269) and 43% (of all respondents, 115/269) reported they would be very/fairly likely to accept a vaccine against Group B streptococcus despite only 29% (55/269) knowing what Group B streptococcus was. This increased to 69% after additional information about Group B streptococcus was provided. Twenty-four percent of pregnant women reported they would be likely to take part in a clinical trial of an unlicensed Group B streptococcus vaccine. Fifty-nine percent of maternity professionals and 74% of neonatologists would be likely to recommend participation in a Group B streptococcus vaccine trial to women, with the vast majority (>99%) willing to be involved in such a study. Incentives to take part cited by pregnant women included extra antenatal scans and the opportunity to be tested for Group B streptococcus.
Conclusion
Pregnant women and healthcare professionals were open to the idea of an antenatal Group B streptococcus vaccine and involvement in clinical trials of such a vaccine. Education and support from midwives would be key to successful implementation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 330-340 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica |
Volume | 97 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 19 Jan 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 9 Mar 2018 |
Research Groups and Themes
- Bristol BioDesign Institute
Keywords
- synthetic biology
- Group B streptococcus
- attitudes
- pregnancy
- clinical trials
- healthcare professionals
- antenatal vaccine
- pregnant women