Parental Refusal for Treatments, Procedures, and Vaccines in the Newborn Nursery

Strategies for Working With Parents With Vaccination Hesitancy

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of effective strategies for working with parents' vaccination hesitancy or refusal. An overview of historical and current trends in vaccination hesitancy and factors that contribute to and strategies for addressing vaccine hesitancy are discussed. This includes an emphasis on the critical role played by health care providers, as trusted advisors and a primary source of health care information, in encouraging vaccine acceptance. Legal and ethical implications are also considered. Vaccination hesitancy strategies are most effective if they are timely, multifaceted, and collaborative.

Risks of Infectious Diseases in Newborns Exposed to Alternative Perinatal Practices

The purpose of this report is to educate providers about the risk of infectious diseases associated with emerging alternative peripartum and neonatal practices. This report will provide information pediatricians may use to counsel families before birth and to appropriately evaluate and treat neonates who have been exposed to these practices.

A Risk Prediction Model to Identify Newborns at Risk for Missing Early Childhood Vaccinations

BACKGROUND

Approximately 30% of US children aged 24 months have not received all recommended vaccines. This study aimed to develop a prediction model to identify newborns at high risk for missing early childhood vaccines.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort included 9080 infants born weighing ≥2000 g at an academic medical center between 2008 and 2013. Electronic medical record data were linked to vaccine data from the Washington State Immunization Information System. Risk models were constructed using derivation and validation samples. K-fold cross-validation identified risk factors for model inclusion based on alpha = 0.01. For each patient in the derivation set, the total number of weighted adverse risk factors was calculated and used to establish groups at low, medium, or high risk for undervaccination. Logistic regression evaluated the likelihood of not completing the 7-vaccine series by age 19 months. The final model was tested using the validation sample.

RESULTS

Overall, 53.6% failed to complete the 7-vaccine series by 19 months. Six risk factors were identified: race/ethnicity, maternal language, insurance status, birth hospitalization length of stay, medical service, and hepatitis B vaccine receipt. Likelihood of non-completion was greater in the high (77.1%; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 5.6; 99% confidence interval [CI]: 4.2, 7.4) and medium (52.7%; AOR 1.9; 99% CI: 1.6, 2.2) vs low (38.7%) risk groups in the derivation sample. Similar results were observed in the validation sample.

CONCLUSIONS

Our prediction model using information readily available in birth hospitalization records consistently identified newborns at high risk for undervaccination. Early identification of high-risk families could be useful for initiating timely, tailored vaccine interventions.

The Term Newborn: Alternative Birth Practices, Refusal, and Therapeutic Hesitancy

The care of late preterm and term newborns delivered in hospital settings in the United States is largely standardized with many routine interventions and screenings that are evidence-based and serve to protect newborn's and the public's health. Refusals of various aspects of routine newborn care are uncommon but can be challenging for clinicians who care for newborns to navigate for many reasons. In this article, we describe the spectrum of refusal. We review suggested approaches that clinicians can take starting with increasing their own awareness of what specific components of newborn care are refused and why.

Hepatitis B Birth Dose: First Shot at Timely Early Childhood Vaccination

INTRODUCTION

Current U.S. recommendations state that newborns weighing ≥2,000 grams should receive a birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine, yet approximately one quarter do not receive this first dose as scheduled. The relationship between timely receipt of the first hepatitis B vaccine and other early childhood vaccines remains unclear.

METHODS

Washington State newborns (birth weight ≥2,000 grams) who received birth hospitalization care at an urban academic medical center between 2008 and 2013 were included. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess whether hepatitis B vaccine receipt during the birth hospitalization was associated with completing the seven-vaccine series by 19 months, adjusting for select sociodemographic, clinical, and birth hospitalization characteristics. Analyses were conducted in 2017-2018.

RESULTS

Of the 9,080 study participants, 75.5% received hepatitis B vaccine during the birth hospitalization, and 53.6% completed the seven-vaccine series by 19 months. Overall, 60.0% of infants vaccinated against hepatitis B during the birth hospitalization completed the seven-vaccine series by 19 months compared with 33.8% of those who were unvaccinated at discharge (p<0.001). The odds of series completion were nearly 3 times higher among infants who received versus did not receive hepatitis B vaccine during the birth hospitalization (AOR=2.92, 95% CI=2.61, 3.26).

CONCLUSIONS

Infants who received hepatitis B vaccine during their birth hospitalization had higher odds of receiving all recommended vaccines by 19 months independent of other factors associated with vaccine receipt. Understanding the factors that influence this first parental vaccine decision and how hepatitis B vaccine delay or declination may affect subsequent vaccination requires further research.

The hepatitis B birth-dose immunisation: Exploring parental refusal

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) immunisation is the first vaccine of infant life and one of the most commonly refused immunisations on the Australian Immunisation Schedule.

AIMS

To quantify the frequency of declined HBV immunisation birth-doses, investigate reasons for refusal, and determine information sources used by parents.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study using a questionnaire was conducted on postnatal women who declined their newborn's HBV birth-dose immunisation during December 2016-July 2017 at an Australian tertiary referral hospital. Mothers who were non-English-speaking, unwell or medically unstable, or otherwise unavailable were excluded.

RESULTS

One hundred and thirty-seven of the 1574 (8.7%) eligible reviewed infants had HBV immunisation birth-doses documented as declined; 113 mothers consented to complete the questionnaire. The most common reasons for declining the dose were: 'baby too young' (55.8%); preference for two, four and six-month HBV immunisations only (56.6%); perceived low risk of contracting HBV (45.1%); and a fear of 'overloading' their baby's immune system (42.5%). General practitioners or nurses/midwives (43.3%) and the internet/media (33.6%) were the predominant information sources consulted, and 58.4% felt satisfied with the information they received antenatally. Eighty-eight of 113 mothers (77.9%) would still consider future immunisations for their infant.

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of postnatal women decline HBV birth-dose immunisation for their newborns citing age-related safety concerns and vaccine misconceptions. Informal information sources such as the internet and media are often consulted. Addressing the need for antenatal and health professional education toward the birth-dose may be instrumental in improving uptake.