Tetanus immunization in pregnant women: the factors affecting maternal evaluation, tetanus vaccination and vaccination rate

Objective: In our study, we aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of pregnant women about tetanus vaccine who admitted to our hospital. Methods: The pregnant women who admitted to our clinic between January 2019 and July 2019 were included in this cross-sectional study. All participants took a questionnaire evaluating tetanus vaccine rates during pregnancy and the knowledge, attitude and behaviors of pregnant women about tetanus vaccine. Results: A total of 227 pregnant women were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 29.5±6.12, and the mean week of gestation was 30.79±7.49. It was found that 24 (52.1%) of the 46 (12.6%) patients who were not vaccinated for tetanus in their previous pregnancies believed that the vaccine was harmful for the baby and therefore they were not vaccinated. In addition, it was found that the physicians who carried out the follow-ups of 2 of these 46 patients, who stated that they were not vaccinated in their previous pregnancies, were also anti-vaxxers. It was found out that 172 (75.7%) patients learnt from the family practitioner’s nurse that they needed to be vaccinated. The number of the patients who learnt from the obstetriciangynecologist that they needed to get tetanus vaccine was only 2 (0.8%). While there were 177 (77.9%) patients who were / will be vaccinated for tetanus in this pregnancy, 47 (20.7%) patients were indecisive for being vaccinated or not. Also, 200 (88.1%) patients knew that tetanus vaccine does not have any side effect on pregnancy. Conclusion: The greatest obstacles to the vaccination are the belief that vaccine may harm the baby, and the lack of knowledge about vaccination. The greatest obstacle caused by the healthcare professionals is the lack of providing sufficient information about vaccine, not explaining the necessities of vaccine to patients and the perception of obstetricians in particular that only the primary healthcare organizations are responsible for tetanus vaccine.