• Posted June 8, 2026

Getting The RSV Shot While Pregnant Could Protect Your Baby After Birth

There’s now real-world evidence that pregnant women who get the RSV vaccine reduce their newborn’s risk of becoming so sick they require hospitalization, a new study says.

Vaccination against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) reduces the risk of hospitalization in babies by nearly 70%, researchers reported June 5 in JAMA Network Open.

“We designed this study to focus on what matters most to families: whether their baby might end up in the hospital,” said lead researcher Dr. Anne-Marie Rick, an assistant professor of pediatrics and clinical and translational science at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

“The findings show a significant impact for families and for the health system, and it highlights how effective this intervention can be during the most vulnerable months of life,” she said in a news release.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a maternal RSV vaccine in 2023, brand name Abrysvo, researchers said in background notes. The vaccine confers immune protection against RSV to an infant through their mom; before its approval, there was no reliable way to protect newborns from RSV.

RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization among U.S. infants, with 2 to 3 out of every 100 babies younger than 3 months landing in a hospital due to infection, researchers said. Severe cases can require oxygen support or mechanical ventilation.

For this new study, researchers analyzed health records for 274 infants younger than 3 months hospitalized for respiratory illness in western Pennsylvania during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 RSV seasons.

Overall, a mom’s RSV vaccination lowered the odds her baby would be hospitalized following infection by 68%, results showed.

Vaccination during pregnancy also was found to be 69% effective against more severe lung infections caused by RSV.

These results are part of an ongoing four-year study that will track the effectiveness of the maternal RSV vaccine across multiple seasons. Future studies also will expand the analysis to include babies up to 6 months old, to track how long protection lasts.

“We’re continuing to follow patients to understand how well this protection holds over time and across different groups,” Rick said. “These kinds of real-world data are critical for helping families, clinicians and policymakers make informed decisions about how best to protect infants.”

More information

The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists has more on RSV vaccination during pregnancy.

SOURCE: University of Pittsburgh, news release, June 5, 2026