You are here  Vaccines: What's Right for Your Baby?  To
vaccinate or not to vaccinate -- that was the dilemma Katie
McBride* faced when her daughter Jenna was born. On the one
hand, she knew moms who questioned the safety of childhood
vaccines; on the other, she knew scientists who trusted the
testing behind them. "Obviously I didn't want my child to die
from some horrible disease," says the Evanston, Illinois, mom,
"but I was uncomfortable not knowing the risks and benefits of
the vaccinations either." McBride ultimately chose to have Jenna
vaccinated but opted to stagger a few of the shots.  Today's
children are immunized by age 13 against some 16 diseases (or 53
vaccine doses), including measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria,
tetanus (lockjaw), pertussis (whooping cough), hepatitis A and
B, meningitis, pneumonia, polio, chicken pox, flu, rotavirus and
the human papillomavirus (HPV). Whew! That's more vaccines than
ever -- 30 years ago, children received only seven -- but it
doesn't necessarily mean babies ha