Pregnant Women: Avoid Soft Cheeses, But Do Get These Shots

A vaccine given during pregnancy protects the baby against whooping cough, but only about 50 percent of pregnant women get it.

Nicole Xu for NPR

The list of things you’re supposed to avoid when you’re pregnant (like I am) is comically long. Hot baths. Alcohol. Soft cheeses. Tuna and lunch meat. Sprouts.

So it felt a little odd to be offering up my arm for a vaccine a few weeks ago, at the start of my third trimester. Really? No ibuprofen or Pepto, but yes vaccines?

The shot was to protect against whooping cough, among other things, and doctors at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists or ACOG recommend it for all women, in every pregnancy. And, there are a few other shots that are advised for pregnant women, depending on your circumstances — and a few you’re not supposed to get.