In honor of National Immunization Awareness Month, Dr. Mona brings back one of her most important conversations—this time with fellow pediatrician and vaccine advocate, Dr. Nicole Baldwin.

Together, they break down:

• Why they vaccinate their own kids

• What parents misunderstand about vaccine risks

• The real stories of vaccine-preventable illnesses they’ll never forget

• Why pediatricians aren’t “trained for half a day on vaccines” (and other wild myths that won’t die)

• What families need to know to make informed, confident choices

This episode gets personal, practical, and powerful because in a world full of misinformation, hearing directly from two doctors who live this every day can make all the difference.

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00;00;00;02 – 00;00;24;05

Dr. Mona

I’m Doctor Mona and this is the follow up. Where we revisit past episodes here on the show in less time than it takes a toddler to decide which trigger they want after getting vaccines in the office. Since August is National Immunization Awareness Month, I’m bringing back one of my favorite conversations with fellow pediatrician doctor Nicole Baldwin. We talk about why we vaccinate.

 

00;00;24;08 – 00;00;51;15

Dr. Mona

The stories that stay with us, myths around vaccines, and why protecting our kids and the kids around them matters so much. If this episode resonates, hit subscribe and download. And in a world where misinformation spreads fast, your listeners and shares helps elevate the right voices. Hopefully this show and protect the health of our kids. Let’s get into this incredible conversation.

 

00;00;51;18 – 00;00;55;02

Dr. Mona

Why do you vaccinate your your children? Let’s start there.

 

00;00;55;05 – 00;01;22;26

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

Yeah, that’s a great question. So definitely, I mean, I vaccinate myself and my kids to prevent vaccine preventable diseases in us. Of course. But I also vaccinate to protect other people so people who can’t be vaccinated. I think it’s important that I make sure I’m as safe as possible. My kids are as safe as possible, so we don’t spread anything inadvertently to someone who maybe can’t be vaccinated for whatever reason.

 

00;01;22;26 – 00;01;30;28

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

They’re too young. They’re too old. They’re, you know, have some sort of immune deficiency. So that’s why I do it.

 

00;01;31;00 – 00;01;46;27

Dr. Mona

Yeah. Same with me. I mean, I think the, the issue here is there is a sort of misconception that, oh, well, if I’m healthy, why do I need to vaccinate? Because I just won’t, you know, I won’t get it. I don’t I’m not going to spread it to anyone. But the reality is we we do this because of protecting the most vulnerable.

 

00;01;46;28 – 00;01;58;04

Dr. Mona

Also, we obviously are vaccinating our our children to protect them and protect others. So I, I love that answer. Any do you have any stories of vaccine preventable illnesses that you’ve seen?

 

00;01;58;07 – 00;02;27;15

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

Yeah. I mean, I think I trained in the era that was mostly post vaccine, you know, but I’ve seen a handful. Obviously, I’ve seen flu, and chickenpox and pertussis. But one thing I, I was thinking about this. So the rotavirus vaccine came out. It was licensed the year I finished residency. So back in the day, rotavirus used to be all over the place.

 

00;02;27;15 – 00;02;51;23

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

We would admit kids all the time with dehydration from rotavirus, gastroenteritis, like diarrhea, vomiting, and, I remember so this vaccine comes out right when I started practicing. And so the first couple of years of practice, we still would see it, you know, kids, I think before vaccination, I mean, hundreds of thousands of office visits every single year for rotavirus.

 

00;02;51;25 – 00;03;09;06

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

And you never forget the smell of rotavirus. Let me tell you, you can smell it down the hallway. It was awful. And and these kids would get really sick. Even when I was in residency, we had one kid when I was in the ICU that actually had to get admitted. We had to code her because she was so dehydrated.

 

00;03;09;08 – 00;03;32;01

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

And she almost died, from that. So really scary. And then fast forward a couple years into practice after we’d been giving the rotavirus vaccine, and I never, hardly ever see rotavirus anymore. I can’t remember the last time I saw rotavirus. So, it’s kind of cool to have that story to be like, yeah, I remember before we had that vaccine and now that we have that vaccine, we just don’t see it anymore.

 

00;03;32;01 – 00;03;34;07

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

So that’s kind of that’s pretty cool.

 

00;03;34;10 – 00;03;53;21

Dr. Mona

That is actually that’s awesome. I yeah, actually obviously, like you said, I was in training when the rotavirus has been around. And so I, I actually work with a colleague who has been practicing for 45 years, and he talks a lot more about that. So it’s so amazing to see the progression of all these different vaccines and to kind of go on that comment.

 

00;03;53;21 – 00;04;13;03

Dr. Mona

I think a lot of families who may be vaccine hesitant, they you know, one of the comments that they say is, well, why are there so many? Well, you guys basically are vaccinated against everything. I think they have to understand that the vaccines have been chosen for things that cause morbidity, mortality or complications. Long term. We’re not vaccinating against hand, foot and mouth, right.

 

00;04;13;03 – 00;04;38;24

Dr. Mona

Because hand, foot and mouth doesn’t cause you. I mean, maybe, you know, there’s it’s hard to find a vaccine, but it doesn’t cause you permanent damage. And it may cause any complications, but rotavirus meningitis, these are all things that actually can cause lifelong implications. Or they can cause, obviously, you know, mortality. So I think, you know, and that’s a prime example, obviously children getting so dehydrated that they’re getting admitted to hospitals if we can prevent that.

 

00;04;38;24 – 00;04;46;13

Dr. Mona

Right. Kind of like the flu vaccine, right. If we can prevent it, why not? I think that’s an important concept that people people need to hear.

 

00;04;46;13 – 00;05;13;28

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

Yeah, yeah. And I just think so many parents these days, just like you said, haven’t seen these illnesses, don’t know anybody that’s had these illnesses. And so, yeah, they look at risk. They are what? Perceived risk, I guess I should say, of the vaccine versus actually thinking about the illness and how devastating so many of these illnesses can be, for kids and adults.

 

00;05;14;00 – 00;05;31;05

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And I think, you know, I think if you were if you’re a pediatrician and you’ve gone through residency, I think every pediatrician will have a story that, you know, they’ll always hold in their heart of a vaccine preventable illness. You know, for me, you know, you have the rotavirus. For me, it was a hee hee mom patient.

 

00;05;31;05 – 00;05;54;11

Dr. Mona

So a cancer patient who had cancer, who obviously is immunocompromised, who ended up getting chickenpox from a classmate and dying from chickenpox, he actually didn’t die from the cancer, but he was so immuno compromised. And he, you know, for for everyone listening, when you’re immunocompromised, you can’t get certain vaccines, so you can’t get the chickenpox vaccination, because your body’s not able to handle that vaccine.

 

00;05;54;11 – 00;06;21;14

Dr. Mona

So you have to hope that everyone around you is getting that vaccine. And I will never forget that child. I will never forget the child’s name, the mom crying and I. It’s just so unfortunate that he was actually doing really well with his cancer. Yeah. And he passed away from chickenpox. And it’s it’s one of those stories that I mean, there’s so many, like you said, pictures I’ve seen I’ve seen I’ve seen Hib meningitis and I’ve seen a healthy young girl, 18 month old, who subsequently had hearing loss.

 

00;06;21;14 – 00;06;42;28

Dr. Mona

This is why we sit here, in an evening and this episode, because we really just care so much about the safety of our kids. And I think people, you know, the misconception that pediatricians are out to harm kids with vaccines, it just breaks my heart because why would we want to do anything for a child and our own?

 

00;06;43;00 – 00;07;02;21

Dr. Mona

By the way, I vaccinate Ryan on schedule. Like, I mean, people are like, you’ve like I have some people will message like, oh, you chose to vaccinate him even though he had a seizure. And Bertram, I’m like, what does that mean? Yeah. That that’s that’s not even really right. Yeah. This is I’m going to vaccinate because that’s the best thing to do for my son and also anyone he comes in contact with.

 

00;07;02;21 – 00;07;14;18

Dr. Mona

Right. But it’s just so sad that the lack of trust that’s been created in many, you know, obviously social media with pediatricians and with the medical community when we really are trying to help children.

 

00;07;14;19 – 00;07;35;00

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

Right? We I mean, we love kids. I went into pediatrics because I love kids. And it’s just like you said, and I say that all the time to why in the world would I not just vaccinate my patients, but vaccinate my own children? If I thought for a second that that it was going to be harmful to them?

 

00;07;35;02 – 00;07;54;04

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

My children are fully vaccinated with everything, including HPV. You know, they’ve had it all. They get a flu shot every year, like my kids. Yeah. And so, you know, never in a million years would I ever want to harm any children, and especially not my own. So I feel you on that.

 

00;07;54;06 – 00;08;08;10

Dr. Mona

And it’s, it’s it’s almost like, you know, when I have those conversations and I do bring in the personal, like, if I’m talking to a vaccine hesitant family or someone who’s more on the other side where they’re not going to vaccinate at all, and I tell them, you know, they’re like, are you vaccinating your son? And I’m like, yeah, I do.

 

00;08;08;13 – 00;08;25;19

Dr. Mona

And I’ve had awful things said to me. I mean, like things like, well, I feel sorry for your child. Like, you know, I to save your child. And I’m like, I literally have had to have, you know, office managers come involved because I’m like, wow, this is extremely rude and personal. Yeah. And I’m not even attacking you, right?

 

00;08;25;21 – 00;08;54;02

Dr. Mona

I’m just giving you medical information. And you just. This was when I was pregnant, by the way. Yeah. And it’s it’s so heartbreaking because literally for anyone who is not familiar, Jen, we work extremely hard. We work hard for very low pay compared to other or other specialties. And we do it because, like Doctor Baldwin said, we really love kids and we don’t want to see your kids in the office, sick, in the hospital, intubated, sick on fluids, all this stuff.

 

00;08;54;02 – 00;09;02;23

Dr. Mona

Right? This is why we we promote this. It’s public health. It’s it’s the benefits are there. And we want your children to be healthy.

 

00;09;02;25 – 00;09;04;01

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

Yeah.

 

00;09;04;04 – 00;09;16;14

Dr. Mona

Is there any other vaccine you know anti-vaccine myths or you know the things that they say that it’s hard for you to kind of do you hear it. And you’re like why are we saying that. Kind of similar to the ones that, you know, pediatricians don’t vaccinate their kids.

 

00;09;16;17 – 00;09;45;19

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

Yeah. Well, I, I think the one that circulates a lot these days, is that someone at the World Health Organization, they take it, they took a clip out of something. And this person said that pediatric physicians only get a half a day of training, about vaccines during medical school. And that is just not true. I mean, I just and and it’s so frustrating because no matter how much on social media we say it’s not true, no matter how many people say it’s not true.

 

00;09;45;22 – 00;10;14;27

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

Every time an anti-vaccine, you know, person kind of comes at me on social media, that’s one of the things that they will say. And I’m just know, like, we not only did we train in infectious disease and immunology and, you know, microbiology and all of those things through medical school, but then add three years of pediatric residency on top of that, add my 13 years of clinical practice, like I, I’ve done more than half a day of studying vaccines.

 

00;10;14;29 – 00;10;16;25

Dr. Nicole Baldwin

It just drives me nuts.

 

00;10;16;25 – 00;10;40;07

Dr. Mona

Oh, that I agree completely because that and also what we said earlier that we not only are studying the microbiology, the vaccines, but we’re also studying the illnesses that they cause. So and we’ve seen those. So when you when I say with my stories like when you see those actually in front of you holding the hands of these children and these parents, that, gosh, if they, if we could just have prevented this with the vaccine, it really hits home.

 

00;10;40;07 – 00;11;00;14

Dr. Mona

And you’re never going to forget those pieces. And, you know, when I’m in my office and if I am dealing with a family that is more hesitant, I, I bring in those stories. And I also to say, you know, this is all for a reason. Like we’re not sitting here having this conversation. I’m not pleading with you and educating you and going on social media like you are to bust all these myths.

 

00;11;00;16 – 00;11;10;26

Dr. Mona

You know, we do it. We’re doing it because it’s what we need to do so that people understand that this is for the best interest of these children.

 

00;11;10;29 – 00;11;32;13

Dr. Mona

And that’s your follow up. Just a small dose of the real, relatable and eye opening conversations we love to have here. If you smiled, nodded, or had an moment, go ahead and download, follow and share this episode with a friend. Let’s grow this village together for more everyday parenting wins and real talk. Hang out with us on Instagram at the PedsDocTalk podcast.

 

00;11;32;15 – 00;11;47;26

Dr. Mona

Want more? Dive into the full episode and more at PedsDoctalk.com. Because parenting is better with support. And remember, consistency is key. Humor is medicine and follow ups are everything. I’m Doctor Mona. See you next time for your next dose.