The Attitude of Women Planning Pregnancy and/or Having Children Towards Vaccinations: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Abstract Background Infectious disease agents can cause serious fetopathy. Implementing appropriate prevention methods while planning pregnancy can help avoid some of them. Methods A cross-sectional survey study was performed. The questionnaire investigated attitudes towards vaccinations, as well as opinions on anti-vaccine movements and the so-called "chickenpox parties". Results The study group consisted of 2402 women, age range was 16-54 years (median: 31 years). Most women were from cities > 100,000 inhabitants (49.7%, 1194/2402) and had higher education (71.9%, 1726/2402). A positive attitude towards vaccinations was more common among younger, nulliparous women from big cities (p=0.02, p=0.04 and p=0.01, respectively). 2068/2402 (86.1%) of them were not vaccinated before pregnancy and 1931/2402 (80.4%) of women were not vaccinated during pregnancy. While most women (1545/2402, 64.3%) considered vaccination safe, and effective (1904/2402, 79.3%) against infectious diseases, many (n=296/2402 12.3%) have no opinion on the so-called chickenpox party. Conclusions Most women in Poland have a positive attitude towards vaccinations and consider vaccines a safe and effective method of protection against infectious diseases. Since a significant proportion of women were not vaccinated before or during pregnancy and about 12% of women are undecided, the physician's role is crucial in educating and persuading the patient to be vaccinated