The maternal immune system protects developing offspring against pathogens before birth via transplacental transfer and after birth through secreted milk. This transferred maternal immunity influences each generation’s susceptibility to infections and responsiveness to immunization. Thus, boosting immunity in the maternal-neonatal dyad is a potentially valuable public health strategy. Additionally, at critical times during fetal and postnatal development, environmental factors and immune stimuli influence immune development. These “windows of opportunity” offer a chance to identify both risk and protective factors that promote long-term health and limit disease. Here, we review pre- and postpartum maternal immune factors that protect against infectious agents in offspring and how they may shape the infant’s immune landscape over time. Additionally, we discuss the influence of maternal immunity on the responsiveness to immunization in early life. Lastly, when maternal factors are insufficient to prevent neonatal infectious diseases, we discuss pre- and postnatal therapeutic strategies for the maternal-neonatal dyad.

母体免疫系统在出生前通过胎盘转移和出生后通过分泌的乳汁保护发育中的后代免受病原体的侵害。这种转移的母体免疫力会影响每一代人对感染的易感性和对免疫接种的反应。因此，提高母婴二元组的免疫力是一项潜在有价值的公共卫生策略。此外，在胎儿和出生后发育的关键时期，环境因素和免疫刺激会影响免疫发育。这些“机会之窗”提供了识别促进长期健康和限制疾病的风险和保护因素的机会。在这里，我们回顾了产前和产后的母体免疫因素，这些因素可以保护后代免受传染性病原体的侵害，以及它们如何随着时间的推移塑造婴儿的免疫格局。此外，我们讨论了母体免疫力对生命早期免疫反应的影响。最后，当母体因素不足以预防新生儿传染病时，我们讨论了母婴二元组的产前和产后治疗策略。