{"id":544700,"date":"2026-03-25T16:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/544700\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T16:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:58:10","slug":"more-maine-parents-are-refusing-standard-newborn-shots-and-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/544700\/","title":{"rendered":"More Maine parents are refusing standard newborn shots and tests"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\tMelody Richards helps her son, Aurelio, stay upright on Monday at her home in Naples. Aurelio will turn 6 months old this weekend. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

Dr. Sheena Whittaker is no longer surprised when parents refuse the hepatitis B vaccine, eye ointment and a dose of vitamin K for their newborns.<\/p>\n

A pediatrician at Northern Light Maine Coast Hospital in Ellsworth, Whittaker relays the importance of vaccinating newborns against hepatitis B within 24 hours of birth. She tells parents that babies can develop severe bleeding without the vitamin K injection.<\/p>\n

Some still decline, citing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s rollback of vaccine recommendations, or claims, supported by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., that vaccines can cause autism. Pediatricians say vaccine hesitancy has surged in Maine over the past year, weakening protections against preventable and dangerous diseases.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen in the last year or so is more hesitancy stirred up based on governmental changes, changes to the recommended vaccine schedule per the CDC,\u201d said Dr. Brian Youth, a pediatrician and the president of Maine\u2019s American Association of Pediatrics chapter. \u201cPeople see this information \u2026 and it makes them start to question: Are vaccines safe? Are vaccines vetted?\u201d<\/p>\n

Federal cutbacks haven\u2019t gone unopposed. Maine was one of several states to sue the Trump administration<\/a> over its move to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for all children, and on March 23, a federal judge temporarily blocked the cuts.<\/p>\n

But some parents make decisions about childhood vaccines well before they see a pediatrician. Whittaker, met with a growing list of safety concerns, responds with the same set of facts and scientific evidence that has backed immunization for decades.<\/p>\n

If they won\u2019t listen to that, she said, maybe they\u2019ll listen to their doctor.<\/p>\n

SAME SCIENCE, MORE QUESTIONS <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Melody Richards feeds peanut butter to her son, Aurelio, at her home in Naples on Monday. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

Melody Richards had already planned to delay her newborn\u2019s vaccines when the CDC rolled back recommendations. For the Naples mother, who has turned down all but two of the eight vaccines doctors recommend for a nearly 6-month-old baby, it just confirmed she made the right choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read a ton of studies and stuff, and yes, there is a very small percentage for adverse reactions, but that percentage is still there,\u201d Richards, 37, said. \u201cI\u2019m not someone who is completely against vaccinations. For me, I just want to spread them out a little bit and not overload his tiny body.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, about 90% of children in Maine between 19 and 35 months were vaccinated against polio and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), serious diseases that were largely eliminated in the U.S. But this year, Maine saw its first case of measles since 2019<\/a>, mirroring a nationwide rise in outbreaks<\/a> that suggest the disease could be making a comeback.<\/p>\n

Whittaker said losing herd immunity, or group protection against disease, is dangerous for people who are immunocompromised or at higher risk for vaccine complications.<\/p>\n

Richards\u2019 son, Aurelio, has not been vaccinated against polio. She cares for him at home rather than sending him to day care, where he could be exposed to disease, and where children are required by Maine law to be vaccinated. The same goes for Maine\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n

Richards will likely homeschool Aurelio and get him vaccinated at her own pace.<\/p>\n

In February, the CDC withdrew routine recommendations for six immunizations, including rotavirus (RV), hepatitis A and hepatitis B. Those three vaccinations alone have prevented nearly 2 million hospitalizations and more than 90,000 deaths over the past 30 years, according to the CDC\u2019s 2024 report.<\/a><\/p>\n

A preliminary injunction restored the previous vaccine schedule, but Maine\u2019s pediatricians say that hasn\u2019t stopped fear and doubt from spreading. Claims from Trump officials that the hepatitis B vaccination is not necessary for babies born to mothers who test negative has caused immunization to fall in Maine, they said, even though it does not protect babies from being infected after birth.<\/p>\n

The first year of life is when babies are most vulnerable to illnesses like pneumonia, whooping cough and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the U.S.<\/a> The CDC also no longer recommends all children to be vaccinated against RSV, flu and COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Immunization is one of myriad safeguards for newborns. Pediatricians also recommend a vitamin K shot and erythromycin\u00a0ointment to prevent eye infection, and Maine mandates a bloodspot screening, obtained from a prick on the baby\u2019s heel, to screen for rare medical conditions.<\/p>\n

Dr. Meredith Jackson, a pediatrician at MaineHealth Barbara Bush Children\u2019s Hospital in Portland, had three parents refuse the bloodspot screening this year, concerned \u201cthe government is going to hold onto their DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n

In more than a decade as a pediatrician, she\u2019s never had anyone refuse it until now.<\/p>\n

BEFORE AND AFTER BABY IS BORN<\/p>\n

Kennedy has attempted to overhaul federal immunization standards since he stepped into office. Along with repeating claims that vaccines can cause autism and attempting to link aluminum in vaccines to chronic diseases in children, he has advised parents to do their own research when deciding whether to vaccinate their children.<\/p>\n

Whittaker said she increasingly encounters vaccine reluctance from parents in Maine who are older, somewhat educated and wealthy enough to provide their own child care or schooling. Because there is limited time to build trust at a newborn\u2019s first appointment, she said pediatricians often struggle to compete with what parents hear about vaccines from the media or other parents.<\/p>\n

Richards also has a 14-year-old son. When he was born, she \u201cjust followed what everyone told me to do\u201d and stuck to the recommended childhood vaccine schedule. With Aurelio, she said she read peer-reviewed studies and spoke to people who have had adverse reactions to vaccines before making a plan to delay most of his newborn shots.<\/p>\n

Her pediatrician was not on board.<\/p>\n

\u201cI left the first appointment in tears because she was saying things like: \u2018Not getting these vaccines could kill your child, and that would be on your hands,’\u201d Richards said. \u201cShe was really not happy with me wanting to delay things or wanting to separate out the shots, and basically told me that any research that I had done couldn\u2019t possibly match the research that other people have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Youth, head of the state\u2019s AAP chapter, said pediatricians should always try to understand where a parent is coming from while discussing vaccines. He said starting those conversations before birth, with an obstetrics provider or a family doctor, can establish consistent messaging that \u201cvaccines are safe, vaccines are effective \u2014 hey, and by the way, vaccines start from the day of birth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ari Pinkham, 29, of Westbrook, gave birth to her son in November. She knew she wanted him to get all of his vaccines, but said it was still helpful to ask her obstetrics doctor about when she should get her own shots for RSV, flu and COVID-19 to maximize his protection. When he was born, she picked up the vaccine conversation with her pediatrician.<\/p>\n

The CDC is also encouraging people to turn to their providers. The six childhood vaccines that were cut from the universal recommendation list are now only recommended for children in high-risk groups and in situations of \u201cshared clinical decision-making,\u201d or consultation between parents and doctors.<\/p>\n

Whittaker said that has always been the standard of care for pediatricians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always willing to work with parents, if they want to do a few less or space them out \u2014 we\u2019re happy to work with them to help them feel comfortable,\u201d Whittaker said. \u201cThey need trust, and right now, they can\u2019t trust in what they\u2019re hearing from the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richards left her pediatrician and started discussing Aurelio\u2019s vaccinations with her family doctor, someone she trusts. Although they disagree about her approach to vaccines, she feels she is being listened to, \u201clike my decisions as a parent are more respected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aurelio is scheduled to be vaccinated against polio next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melody Richards helps her son, Aurelio, stay upright on Monday at her home in Naples. Aurelio will turn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[97],"class_list":{"0":"post-544700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}