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Poster Session 3

Category: Clinical Obstetrics

Poster Session 3

(872) Examining barriers to in-office prenatal vaccination for non-birthing partners

Thursday, February 12, 2026

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Submitting Author and Presenting Author(s)

Maxine Slater, BS

Medical Student
Alpert Medical School of Brown University / Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Coauthor(s)

NP

Natalie Passarelli, MD

Resident
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
John Soehl, MD (he/him/his)

Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, United States
EH

Erica Hardy, MD, MSc

Alpert Medical School of Brown University / Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
MC

Melissa A. Clark, PhD

Professor
Brown University School of Public Health
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Adam K. Lewkowitz, MD, MPHS

Assistant Professor
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island / Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Laurie B. Griffin, MD PhD

Assistant Professor
University of Utah
Cottonwood Heights, Utah, United States

Objective:
Pediatric guidelines recommend both parents receive Tdap vaccination prior to delivery of their neonate. Despite this, many non-birthing parents are not up to date on Tdap vaccination, potentially due to lack of education on vaccine importance or access to the vaccination itself. In our randomized control trial that offered in-office vaccination to non-birthing partners, many non-birthing partners did not receive a Tdap. We sought to determine what barriers existed for participation in the prenatal in-office vaccination program for non-birthing partners.

Study Design:
This is a mixed methods study of participants in a RCT in which non-birthing partners were counseled either in-person or via telephone on the importance of Tdap vaccination for themselves and protection of their neonate and some were offered in-office Tdap vaccine administration in the prenatal care office at their convenience. Those who were offered in-office Tdap vaccination but did not receive this vaccine completed a postpartum survey to elicit barriers to receiving Tdap.

Results:
Twenty-two (47.8%) non-birthing partners who were offered prenatal in-office vaccination did not receive their Tdap in pregnancy and were included in the current study. The most common self-reported reason for not receiving vaccination was inability to attend a prenatal care appointment (n=8, 36.3%,) after telephone counseling. Additionally, vaccine hesitancy concerns were also articulated including: belief that vaccination was not needed given personal health status (n=3, 14%), concerns regarding side effects (n=3, 14%), and opposition to vaccination (n=1, 5%).

Conclusion:
Offering in-office vaccination increases Tdap vaccination rates for non-birthing partners, but this solution does not result in universal vaccination due to vaccine hesitancy and barriers to attending prenatal care appointments. Future studies should focus on identifying specific barriers to attending appointments to inform implementation of effective care delivery model in pursuit of encouraging sustainability and optimizing vaccination opportunities.