PA
Mums-to-be are to be vaccinated against whooping cough amid fears of the effects of the biggest outbreak of the disease in 20 years.
So far, nine babies under three months old have died from whooping cough in the UK this year.
The Department of Health have confirmed that there have been a further 4,791 cases of the viral illness in England and Wales between January and August this year.
The figure is a shocking four times greater than for the whole of 2011, when there were 1,118 confirmed cases of the illness.
The Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies told Sky News: "Whooping cough is highly contagious and newborns are particularly vulnerable."
"It's vital that babies are protected from the day they are born - that's why we are offering the vaccine to all pregnant women."
From Monday all women who are between 28 and 38 weeks pregnant will be offered the vaccine through their GP surgeries. It will work by generating antibodies that will be passed onto their babies in the womb, protecting them from the condition until they are old enough to be vaccinated at two months old.
Will you be seeing your GP for the vaccine?
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