Researchers from Emory's Rollins School of Public Health, with funding from The Emory Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center (Emory PERRC), recently developed a vaccination educational resource website designed to educate the public on prenatal vaccinations, vaccine safety and infant immunizations.

The website (www.momvax.org) was developed by Allison Chamberlain, a recent doctoral graduate in the Department of Epidemiology at Rollins School of Public Health as an extension of her dissertation research on the topic of prenatal vaccination. The website aims to specifically reinforce the message that vaccinating pregnant women is the first opportunity to begin protecting the infant from certain vaccine-preventable diseases

"Through my research, I saw a need for greater access to evidence-based information about vaccination during pregnancy,” explains Chamberlain.  “Creating this website will provide that information to expectant mothers, obstetric care providers, and public health practitioners."

"When you start talking about childhood vaccines with parents after their babies are born, it is already too late," says Saad Omer, MBBS, PhD, associate professor in the Hubert Department of Global Health at Rollins School of Public Health and Chamberlain's dissertation advisor. "Young parents are more receptive when they are pregnant. There are already lots of messages that are targeted to them during pregnancy and we need to add mother and child vaccinations to that. This new website will be key in helping to disseminate the message that vaccinations during pregnancy are both safe and effective."

The MOMVAX.ORG research team includes internationally recognized experts in the fields of vaccine safety, pediatric, obstetrics, immunology, epidemiology and health behavior.  The website includes direct and timely access to the latest information on vaccinations.