This is a decision you and your doctor will make. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as preservatives. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or if you may become pregnant within 3 months after receiving this vaccine. Although adequate studies have not been done in either humans or animals, and problems have not been shown to occur, use of measles and rubella vaccine during pregnancy, or becoming pregnant within 3 months after receiving the measles and rubella vaccine, is not recommended. Because the natural measles infection has been shown to increase the chance of birth defects and other problems, it is thought that the live virus vaccine might cause similar problems.
Rubella vaccine crosses the placenta.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitored over 200 women who received the vaccine within 3 months before or after becoming pregnant, and those women gave birth to normal babies. However, this vaccine has not been reported to cause problems in nursing babies. Use of this vaccine is not recommended for infants younger than 12 months of age, unless the risk of measles infection is high. Waiting until children are at least 12 months of age is important because antibodies that infants receive from their mothers before birth may interfere with the effectiveness of the vaccine. In addition, there may be special reasons why children between 6 months and 12 months of age also may require measles vaccination.