Your Toddler Killed My Newborn!!!

What would you do if your newborn died because of exposure to a disease that he or she was too young to receive vaccination for?




An episode of my favorite show Law & Order SVU came on last night that was about vaccinations and children. One woman's newborn died from the measles after being exposed to another woman's toddler at the park. The mother of the toddler took him to the park BEFORE he had any symptoms of the measles, but you are contagious before you show any symptoms. This mother, due to her research and religious beliefs, did not believe in vaccination and thought it would do more harm than good to her son.




For those of you that do not know, there are numerous vaccinations that babies under a certain age cannot receive due to the fact that their poor little bodies cannot handle it. This leaves them susceptible to so much. So the mother of the baby in this episode really couldn't have done anything to prevent her baby from getting it except to keep her in the house 24/7 until she was old enough to be vaccinated. Also, schools and other facilities will not even let your child attend until you prove they have had their vaccinations as a health precaution for the other children.




In this episode, the mother of the toddler who had the measles was being prosecuted because she chose not to vaccinate her child and it caused the death of the newborn. This was soooo controversial to me for 2 reasons...


1. Her child was not currently attending school, therefore by LAW was not required to vaccinate her child. SO how can you prosecute her for choosing not to?



2. If she wasn't going to vaccinate her child, then WHY are you going to bring your child to a PUBLIC park and possibly  infect so many other children who may be too young for the vaccination?




Now I know this is a show, but the issue is VERY real! I was doing some online research and found this article about the growing number of parents choosing NOT to vaccinate their children. One woman stated, "I believe, feel like immunization is another part of fear-based medicine, it's not natural. I think the way we’re made is perfect and I’d like to stick to that,”. They also said, the number of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children in California has nearly quadrupled in the last 20 years.T his article was from 2010, so I am sure the numbers have increased.




I also found this article which is from just 4 months ago about the largest U.S. outbreak of measles to occur in 15 years, which was said to have affected 214 children thus far. They attributed this outbreak to parents taking their children abroad without their vaccination. They also included this quote from the CDC:




"Before the vaccine became available in the 1960s, some three to four million people contracted measles every year. Of those, 48,000 were hospitalized, 1,000 were permanently disabled and about 500 died,"




I don't know about you, but the measles ain't no joke! I don't even I ever really cared, but I guess it is because I never had a life threatening experience with it lol. They said the instances in 2011 have rose from the norm of about 60-70 to 214 as of Oct. Of those, 86% were unvaccinated or the status unknown. 13% were children under the age of 1 which is the minimum age for vaccination eligibility. Scary scary scary for parents out there who WANT their children to be vaccinated when the time comes. You just never know. What if that child he or she is playing with in that sand-box is infected and unvaccinated!




While I understand their concerns, I have a problem with you sentencing MY child to death because of your personal parenting choices. Something as serious as the measles isn't like the common cold. This is just my own personal opinion, but I think if you aren't going to vaccinate, keep your child at home!




I found this page on the CDC's website that lists the vaccinations for each age group from birth to 18yrs of age. Pretty interesting. Check it out.

What do you think? 

Do you vaccinate your children? 

WILL you vaccinate your children? 

Is it fair to prosecute the mother for the newborn's death?