Vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women in the U.S. and its implication for maternal and child health

Vaccine hesitancy is one of the most significant public health issues in the U.S. This issue has been noted to be more prevalent among pregnant women, due to safety concerns, thereby endangering maternal and child health and increasing the burden on public healthcare systems. This review aims to investigate and identify the prevalence, causes, and effects of vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women in the U.S. Scopus, PubMed, and EBSCOhost were searched for pertinent literature on the topic, following PRISMA systematic review guidelines. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website was searched for relevant articles. Literature was also obtained from the reference list of prior studies. 66 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. In this study, vaccine hesitancy was discovered to be widespread, with prevalence varying by vaccine type. Several factors influenced vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women, including misinformation, safety concerns, perceived efficacy of vaccines, cultural and religious beliefs, healthcare provider characteristics, and history of racial discrimination. Moreover, maternal vaccine hesitancy was reported to result in maternal and neonatal birth complications, non-immunization of children, increased occurrence of vaccine preventable diseases in both mother and child, and increased utilization of advanced healthcare, such as invasive ventilation.