Worried about hospital and Hep B vax - Page 2

[PaigeC]

I second what others have said:

Put it in your birthplan.
Talk to your nurses about it.
Don't let the baby leave your sight.

I just gave birth and thought this was going to be a huge problem too. The nurses wrote it on the bassinet (which she was never in) and me or my husband were always with her. The nursing staff were great and I ended up having more problems with vit K refusal than Hep B. I had already found a ped (not at that hospital) so I just said "we've discussed it with our ped and we are comfortable with our decision" and that was that.

[jammomma]

Thanks everyone, reading all your replies has eased my mind a bit. Truly a big help. Thanks everyone!

We are planning on a birth plan, and having a doula and my husband is all on board and I even talked to my mom about it and even she is on board (she couldn't believe that they actually give newborns HepB vax) So I think we will have the supoort we need and the eyes needed to watch everything that happens while we are there and stand our ground if need be.


And about delivering at Northside, I did think about it, but it is just so far from where we live in the city and if we change hospitals we will probably go with North Fulton. But we are hoping we can make it work at Crawford Long.
But we still have time to change if need be and if I get any more indications from the hospital or the OB that natural childbirth is not going to be easy there, I will drop that OB and hospital like a bad habit.

[mommyofemma]

I was worried about this too but once my daughter was born the nurse asked me did I want them to give her the Hep. B shot or did we want to wait until she went to her doctor.Of course I said we would wait until we went to her doctor, and when the time came for that we still didn't get the shot! Glad to say she is completly vax free and she is now 15mths old!!The nurses didn't give me any problems,I hope you have the same experience!

[Honey693]

Originally Posted by mommyofemma

I was worried about this too but once my daughter was born the nurse asked me did I want them to give her the Hep. B shot or did we want to wait until she went to her doctor.

This is what happened with us. They had me sign a paper saying nope we're not doing this one at this time (it had a box for yes we are doing it too) and I brought up with my doctor how I thought it was stupid to give to my child who's not a crack shooting prostitute and she agreed. We're delaying it until DD is a lot older, probably a teenager.

[Minaret]

I am a bit worried about this, too. My due date is in early April. I've already talked with my doula about it. However, when my DS was born two years ago, I didn't have a clue about it. And they gave him the shot before asking for consent. After the shot, they had me fill out a form.

Since reading up on vax's and becoming a non-vaxing mama, I am still ticked off about the Hep B shot to this day. I worry that my husband or doula will not be diligent enough in following up on all the possible labor nurses who might poke my baby with this vax without my consent. I personally plan on telling every one of them, and will put out a birth plan, too, but I am still worried that in the middle of labor, I will miss someone. DH is not a good person regarding persistence in a matter, if something else is going on. He is opposed to this vax as well, but I could see him getting talked into it if the labor room gets intense during the birth or forgetting.

And we live in a very liberal area where a number of people don't vax, but this still happened. I plan on telling my doctor, too.

Minaret

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

Originally Posted by jammomma

Has anyone had the hospital staff try to bully them into getting this vax?

Am I just being overly anxious or do I have a reason to worry?

with roo; i wasn't harrassed per say, but i had one horrible nurse who belittled me for refusal, and then go on and on about circumcision

[ZoeyZoo]

I specifically said in my birth plan that I "do not consent to" hep b as a CYA measure. Many hospitals have general consent in their admission forms.

[ericswifey27]

Originally Posted by FernG

Not all hospitals make you sign a consent form for the Hep B vaccine. Sometimes, they say the consent is covered by the admittance forms even if it isn't specifically listed. If the hospital put that in their literature, you definitely need to keep a close watch during any newborn exams, etc.

There is great reason to be worried, hospital staff are used to procedure, and may give it without checking your records, out of habit. Despite saying "NO HEPATITIS B (or Vitamin K!) my first child was given these at birth. In fact nothing on the birth plan was followed at all, except he wasn't circed. Really, the birth plan was a big joke to them.

Remember, there may be shift changes too- what the first set of nurses and staff read, the next shift may not. So in addition to writing it on hospital records, I would have a big sign that says "NO HEP B" on his bassinet, and I would make sure you or your partner are with him at all times, even when they take your baby to get newborn photos (at the time they wouldn't "let" me come and I was too blissfully ignorant about the inner workings of a maternity ward to object but trust me I will never let that happen again!)

Just be prepared to stand up for your self. If someone says you have to have it, you can say that is a decision you will have your (future) pediatrician or family doctor handle. They CANNOT mandate that it be given by the hospital staff, you have parental rights. If they say they need the baby for x.y.z. you have the right to INSIST on a parent to be present. You could always make up a onesie that says "NO HEP B" on it too.

Hopefully it will all be moot and you'll have the best nurses ever, but it's impossible to predict so it's better to be prepared for the opposite scenario.

[2lilsweetfoxes]

I also plan to have the hospital countersign a memo that I will include as part of my birth plan and have put into my file and my baby's file. After eliminating identifying information, here it is:

(Date)

MEMORANDUM FOR (Hospital) OB-GYN-NBN Staff

SUBJECT: Instructions Following Birth

RE: Patient (Mom's Name & Patient Number). Due date – (EDD)


1. We are expressing our wishes in writing concerning the treatment of our baby once born. We trust that our wishes will be carried out by all staff members. Please see us regarding consent/nonconsent before performing any procedures or deviating from our wishes.

2. Please delay cord cutting until the cord stops pulsating.

4. Please give the baby to the mother for breastfeeding immediately following birth.

5. Please perform all examinations, measurements, placement of ID tags and taking of footprints on the mother’s chest/stomach. When getting the footprints, please use as little ink as possible and do not scrub over zealously to remove the ink.

6. We will bathe our baby ourselves at a time of our choosing.

7. WE DO NOT CONSENT to antibiotic drops in the eyes and WE DO NOT CONSENT to the Vitamin K shot. Please ensure that this be noted in my chart, my baby’s chart, and also posted in the nursery.
a. No Antibiotic drops: The mother does not have any sexually transmitted diseases or active infection in the birth canal and is therefore unlikely to infect the eyes of the newborn.
b.No Vitamin K to the newborn: The baby is at little risk for cerebral hemorrhage. The mother is a vegetarian who consistently eats large quantities of dark leafy green vegetables, therefore unlikely that mother or child is vitamin K deficient.

8. WE DO NOT CONSENT to the Hep B or the Hep A shot. We will discuss vaccination with the baby's regular pediatrician

9. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding and thank you for your help in delivering and caring for our baby.

10. Points of contact for this memorandum are the undersigned at (contact info).


(Signature blocks for mother/father or other parent/midwife or OB or head nurse)

[mormontreehugger]

Originally Posted by 2lilsweetfoxes

I also plan to have the hospital countersign a memo that I will include as part of my birth plan and have put into my file and my baby's file. After eliminating identifying information, here it is:

(Date)

MEMORANDUM FOR (Hospital) OB-GYN-NBN Staff

SUBJECT: Instructions Following Birth

RE: Patient (Mom's Name & Patient Number). Due date – (EDD)


1. We are expressing our wishes in writing concerning the treatment of our baby once born. We trust that our wishes will be carried out by all staff members. Please see us regarding consent/nonconsent before performing any procedures or deviating from our wishes.

2. Please delay cord cutting until the cord stops pulsating.

4. Please give the baby to the mother for breastfeeding immediately following birth.

5. Please perform all examinations, measurements, placement of ID tags and taking of footprints on the mother’s chest/stomach. When getting the footprints, please use as little ink as possible and do not scrub over zealously to remove the ink.

6. We will bathe our baby ourselves at a time of our choosing.

7. WE DO NOT CONSENT to antibiotic drops in the eyes and WE DO NOT CONSENT to the Vitamin K shot. Please ensure that this be noted in my chart, my baby’s chart, and also posted in the nursery.
a. No Antibiotic drops: The mother does not have any sexually transmitted diseases or active infection in the birth canal and is therefore unlikely to infect the eyes of the newborn.
b.No Vitamin K to the newborn: The baby is at little risk for cerebral hemorrhage. The mother is a vegetarian who consistently eats large quantities of dark leafy green vegetables, therefore unlikely that mother or child is vitamin K deficient.

8. WE DO NOT CONSENT to the Hep B or the Hep A shot. We will discuss vaccination with the baby's regular pediatrician

9. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding and thank you for your help in delivering and caring for our baby.

10. Points of contact for this memorandum are the undersigned at (contact info).


(Signature blocks for mother/father or other parent/midwife or OB or head nurse)

I am so using this... Thanks for posting it!