Yellow Fever Vaccine, Pregnancy, & Conception

Yellow fever vaccine has been given to many pregnant women without any apparent adverse effects on the fetus. However, since yellow fever vaccine is a live virus vaccine, it poses a theoretical risk.

Pregnant women should avoid or postpone travel to an area where there is risk of yellow fever. If travel cannot be avoided, discuss vaccination with your doctor.

While a two week delay between yellow fever vaccination and conception is probably adequate, a one month delay has been advocated as a more conservative approach.

If, for some reason, a woman is vaccinated during pregnancy, she is unlikely to have any problems from the vaccine and her baby is very likely to be born healthy.

For more technical information, see: Additional Vaccine Information for Healthcare Providers.