Survey details

For the two surveys, researchers recruited 174 pregnant women and 1,765 parents from a nationally representative panel in April 2024 to answer questions about their intentions to have their child receive all recommended vaccines by the age of 18 months.

In total, 37.6% of pregnancies were first pregnancies. Around half of respondents held a bachelor's degree or higher, and just under 80% lived in urban areas.

The surveys found that fewer than half of respondents said they intend to fully vaccinate their child. Intent to vaccinate was similar among pregnant women and parents of young children, at 35% to 40%.

The proportion of respondents planning to refuse some or all vaccines was lowest among women who were pregnant for the first time (4%) and highest among parents of young children (33%).

Forty-eight percent of women in their first pregnancy were uncertain about childhood vaccinations, the most of any group, while just 4% of parents of young children said the same.

Earlier this month, the United States confirmed over 1,200 measles cases so far this year, nearly 4.5 times greater than last year's total and the highest annual count since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.

Children are routinely vaccinated for measles at 12 to 15 months and again at 4 to 6 years old, but children as young as 6 months old can receive the measles vaccine if they're deemed at risk.

Health officials continue to advocate for the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine as the most effective was to combat the disease, as they have been shown to be 97% effective in preventing illness and further spread of the disease. CDC reported that just 8% of children who had a confirmed case of measles during the current outbreak had a known measles vaccination.

The study authors wrote that given the high level of uncertainty regarding childhood vaccinations during pregnancy, "there may be value in intervening during pregnancy to proactively support families with childhood vaccination decisions."

"Future interventions should account for differences in uptake of seasonal (i.e., COVID-19, influenza) vs routinely recommended vaccines," the researchers added. "Future studies with longitudinal follow-up may shed further light on evolution of vaccination decisions from pregnancy to parenthood, and the effectiveness of intervening proactively during pregnancy."