The Vaccine Book

As soon as I read this book my first thought was: Where was this 16 months ago!

While I was pregnant I researched many things about parenthood, and vaccines topped the list. But try as I might, I was not able to find any information that I felt was helpful. There were definietly two sides to the issue, but they offered data in direct opposition to each other while each claiming that following their advice over the "propaganda" of the other side was a matter of life or death. This was insane, and utterly unhelpful.

So I turned next to friends, but found essentially more of the same. Some were strongly on one side, and others were strongly on the other. Many felt like throwing their hands up as I did.

Next, I turned to my Doctors and Chiropractor, all of whom I respected. They walked me through some of the pros and cons, and told me what they had done for their own children.

But in all of this, I never felt that I was being given well researched data. Opinions, repeated opinions, and some helpful perspective, but not what I'd been hoping for. We made the decisions we made, and I'm happy with them. But I was thrilled to now have Dr. Sear's The Vaccine Book.

Sears bends over backwards to not give parents yet another guilt trip and list of "shoulds." Instead, he speaks openly to both parents and doctors, acknowledging the limitations in all our educations regarding this issue. For each vaccine he gives a description of the disease, the risks of the disease before and after vaccination became standard, the ingredients and production method of the vaccine for each manufacture, any controversy regarding the ingredients, production methods, or side effects, as well as detailed information about the risks of each. Sears does not come down on either side of the vaccine debate, but does wrap each chapter up with a helpful summary, and documents his research thoroughly.

As I read, I did not feel that I was being pushed one way or the other, simply being given access to the data I've been wanting all along. With this information in hand, my options have increased. I now know specifically which vaccines I think are important, and why, and which brand I would prefer, and when I would like to get them for my child.

If you have a child still in the vaccination stages, I highly recommend at least a perusal of this book, if not making it part of your parental reference library. I wish I'd had it 16 months ago, but I'm grateful to have it now.

There's a whole book club discussion going on here if you'd like to know more about what others think of the book. Also, the Chicago Moms Blog and our sister sites had a fascinating discussion about breastfeeding yesterday; I posted my own story among others - come check it out.