Before I get started on this flaming hot topic, let me say I am not a doctor. I'm not a scientist, or a nurse, or a medical professional of any kind. I'm just a mama. The decisions BD and I have made are for OUR child, and no one else's. Got it?
I'm going to write this in two, maybe three, parts. There is a lot of ground to cover, and I could go on for days about the subject. There's a TON of research supporting both sides of the debate and I want to present it fairly and accurately. You'll see that I am very obviously biased on the subject, but I want to make it clear that none of the decisions we've made were done so lightly, or without grounds.
When Babydoll was born, BD and I had already made the decision that she would not receive a vitamin K shot, nor the Hepatitis B shot. Why? She didn't need them, in our opinion. Though we were questioned, together and separately, about it in the hospital, we (read: I) had done the research and our collective mind had been made up.
Newborns receive a shot of vitamin K at birth in order to prevent, or slow down, the very rare occurrence of bleeding in the brain. Breastfeeding mothers (as I intended to be) can increase their baby's vitamin K level naturally by upping their own dietary intake of vitamin K. Formula-fed babies receive high doses of vitamin K from enriched formula. Additionally, our decision was influenced by my genetically-inherited Factor V Leiden thrombophilia, a condition in which those afflicted have a greater risk of developing blood clots. With Babydoll having a 50/50 shot of inheriting the same disorder, no way in hell were we taking a chance.
The Hepatitis B vaccine is given to babies at birth in order to prevent (duh) Hepatitis B, a highly infectious disease. We decided against this because A:) I'm not infected, and therefore could not pass it on to my baby, and B:) we don't engage in the high-risk behaviors associated with Hepatitis B (sharing needles, unsafe sex with mulitple partners...yeah, we're boring), nor do we work in the health care industry, which does carry a slightly higher risk of infection. There is also some indication of a higher rate of SIDS in infants who have received the Hep B vaccine, as well as developmental neurological disorders. Those four factors, primarily, helped us make the decision to skip this innoculation.
We did agree to the use of erythromycin eye ointment, because, at the time, we thought I would be having a vaginal birth. Had we known I would be having a Caesarean section, we would have skipped this as well. Erythromycin, either in ointment or drop form, is used to prevent neonatal conjunctivitis, which occurs when bacteria, from the birth canal or post-birth handling, enters the newborn's eyes. There's actually not a lot of conclusive evidence supporting either side of this debate, but we figured we'd give this one the okay.
To be continued...
Have you found anything that connects the eye ointment beyond an STD? Everything I have read says it's only necessary if mom has an STD and a vaginal birth like you said. I'd be interested to read anything otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI also know to didn't go much into other vaccines in this post, but I cannot recommend Louise Habakus's book The Vaccine Epidemic enough. New this year, extremely well written full of so much info from so many different experts and grounded in the idea that the choice is the family's and so different for every single person!