Why NOT the eye gunk?

[Famatigia]

Was just thinking about this. Why do some people elect not to get the eye gunk for their babies?

[fruitfulmomma]

Because I don't have gonorrhea or chlamydia and I won't use medicine without a justification for it.

[buttercups.nest]

I would also like to know!

[mommy2two babes]

Originally Posted by fruitfulmomma

Because I don't have gonorrhea or chlamydia and I won't use medicine without a justification for it.

This and also because antibiotics kill good as well as bad. Why would I kill all the good natural things that are supposed to be there colonizing thier eyes and eye lashes keeping other stuff in check. Especially for something that I don't have. I know the argurment that a woman might not know if her DH was being faithful and thats why I took a 10 second urine test rather than medicating my child unneccesarily.

[Carson]

Originally Posted by fruitfulmomma

Because I don't have gonorrhea or chlamydia and I won't use medicine without a justification for it.

Yes, this. Suppose I don't have much more to add!

[AfricanQueen99]

Originally Posted by fruitfulmomma

Because I don't have gonorrhea or chlamydia and I won't use medicine without a justification for it.

This. And I like to see those beautiful eyes without being all goo'd up.

[kcparker]

It also interferes with their vision, which is pretty fuzzy and near-sighted to begin with. Why put one more barrier between you and your baby during that sensitive bonding time? Plus, it's been shown that if the baby does get an eye infection in the first weeks of life, they can just do antibiotics at the time that there's an actual indication for it, and the outcomes are still very good.

[Friendlee]

I prefer a very natural lifestyle and I do pre-treat possible infections/viruses by using nutritious foods and herbs. I rarely have any problems with my health. I do not vaccinate myself against the flu or agree to randomly perscribed antibiotics.

You would think I would automatically decline the eye goop.

However, because it sounds SO ridiculous to treat every single baby for possible infections even when there parents are known to be free of STD's (at our hospital they tested us both upon becoming pregnant) there had to be more to this. I researched quite a bit and heard from some nurses.

It seems that, at a home birth, the eye goop likely is not at all necessary. And I believe it was a nurse from the La Leche league who mentioned that she wouldn't give her baby the eye goop if born at home...but if born in a hospital, she would. Because of all of the bacteria that floats around that place. This theory is confirmed on the Business of Being Born when they mention that the hospitals were advertised as these sterile safe places (when people started birthing there instead of home) but that the infection rate actually was higher to infants and moms who birthed there.

A recent trip to the hospital with my Dad really inforced this. His room was filthy when we went in the this hospital (which is rated one of the top 100 hospitals) and when I helped him over to the bathroom, the toilet was overflowing and feces was floating there...from the previous patient. It took an hour to get maintenance to come fix it and even then no one came to clean or sanitize the toilet, the bathroom, the sink or anything. We had to wait hours for the cleaning crew to come. It just made me think twice about trusting the cleanliness of a hospital.

With that said, I am still undecided about the eye goop. I have turned in a copy of the birth plan to my OB and he will discuss it with me next time. I wrote in that we were undecided and would like to hear what he has to say about it. (He's uncommon as far as doctors go and will be very honest I believe. He's okay with opting out of vaccines and is very pro natural birth, so I think I'll get a good perspective from him). I'll let you know what he says!

[nick&jonmom]

Might be a kind of silly question, but want to ask anyway... If the baby is born in a hospital is there any other risk, besides mom having said illnesses, to not putting the gunk in their eyes? Does it prevent anything airborne, or on nurses hands etc? If not then what's the point??? Hospitals, ugh!!

So glad this came up because honestly both my boys were born in hospitals and both had eye drops, I never even thought to ask what they were for...:

[Friendlee]

Yeah that's exactly why I was looking into it. I couldn't figure out what the point was. But my research said that it CAN prevent lots of yucky bacteria floating around hospitals and that newborn eyes are in particular very sensitive.

I'm still undecided though...

[kcparker]

Originally Posted by nick&jonmom

Might be a kind of silly question, but want to ask anyway... If the baby is born in a hospital is there any other risk, besides mom having said illnesses, to not putting the gunk in their eyes? Does it prevent anything airborne, or on nurses hands etc?

I had a doula client whose baby had to be taken to the NICU for breathing issues, and the baby's NP came into the labor room to ask the mom about the eye prophy., Hep B. vaccine and Vit. K shots. Mom said OK to the Vit. K and Hep. B, but declined the eye treatment. The nurse said to her, "Are you sure?" and the mom got a little sassy and asked, "Why, is there something bad floating around the NICU that puts her at greater risk for an eye infection?" The nurse allowed that, no, it wasn't more germy than anywhere else... Actually, the NICU seems like it's probably cleaner than a lot of other parts of the hospital because they have more hand-washing and mouth-covering protocols in place for visitors and staff than the regular mama-baby unit.

[Friendlee]

Not to be argumentative - but really just asking....

What if your baby isn't in the NICU? Because, yes, I would agree that the Intensive care unit IS probably cleaner because of the situation the patients are in. But what about the regular hospital exposure. Our baby will likely be rooming in and I guess I don't know how clean the room's bathroom will be, or how clean the nurses hands will be, or the blankets.

I'm not as worried as it sounds, but just trying to develop a very clear decision for myself and so I'm being really thorough.

So out of curiosity, did they keep pushing her about the eye goop or just back down when she asked if the NICU has something nasty floating around? Good for her!

[paxye]

Originally Posted by fruitfulmomma

Because I don't have gonorrhea or chlamydia and I won't use medicine without a justification for it.

Originally Posted by kcparker

It also interferes with their vision, which is pretty fuzzy and near-sighted to begin with. Why put one more barrier between you and your baby during that sensitive bonding time? Plus, it's been shown that if the baby does get an eye infection in the first weeks of life, they can just do antibiotics at the time that there's an actual indication for it, and the outcomes are still very good.

:

[womenswisdom]

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[womenswisdom]

While I agree that hospitals are more "germy" than many places, I see it as equivelent to putting antibiotic eye ointment in my kids' eyes after a trip to the grocery store or other public place. The L&D floor is not an infectious disease ward, it has mostly very healthy pregnant women in it. The L&D nurses and staff are no more germy than anyone you would encounter in public and will likely not have much contact with a baby that is rooming-in. And why would they be touching the baby's eyes anyway?

ETA: On the off chance your baby does develop some kind of infection, it can be treated very effectively at that time. The idea behind treating for gonorrhea and chlamydia prophylatically is that these diseases can be very serious and cause blindness. Not so for your run-of-the-mill eye infection.

Also, infections became more common when birth moved to the hospital because NO ONE WAS WASHING THEIR HANDS between the morgue and the L&D area. Not because bacteria was "floating around".

[ivymae]

It's a blanket policy, to cover the lowest common denominator. If they give everyone the gunk, then the extremely small % of babies who would face an infection can be helped, but as someone whose children do not need it, it is grating to me that it is expected that I would medicate my children.

I am also not a fan of using antibiotics widely and routinely, since we all know they lose their effectiveness, and then we are faced with an even larger problem.

[sunshynbaby]

I will refuse it because I don't have an STD, and I want my newborn baby to see clearly.

[zjande]

I don't have STDs, I want my baby to see without looking through a wall of grease, and I don't expect anyone to be sticking their dirty fingers in his/her eyes so I think we'll be fine without it. (I've declined it for all but my 1st baby).

[Spiralshell]

I live and will give birth in NY, where the eye ointment is not optional. You cannot refuse it, even based on religious objection (because it is not a vaccination).
http://nyvic.org/nyvic/law/vitamin-k.htm
Refusal of either the eye goop or the Vitamin K will result in the hospital calling Child Protective Services (CPS).
So as much as I would like to skip it... the babe will get it. (I plan to wipe as much of it out of his eyes as I can as soon as I can though!!)

[kcparker]

Originally Posted by Friendlee

Not to be argumentative - but really just asking....

What if your baby isn't in the NICU? Because, yes, I would agree that the Intensive care unit IS probably cleaner because of the situation the patients are in. But what about the regular hospital exposure. Our baby will likely be rooming in and I guess I don't know how clean the room's bathroom will be, or how clean the nurses hands will be, or the blankets.

I'm not as worried as it sounds, but just trying to develop a very clear decision for myself and so I'm being really thorough.

So out of curiosity, did they keep pushing her about the eye goop or just back down when she asked if the NICU has something nasty floating around? Good for her!

Nope. They dropped the subject, and the baby was fine. I do think that this hospital is pretty vigilant about hand hygiene, in the L&D unit, the NICU and the regular mama-baby unit. They have alcohol-based sanitizer bottles on the walls outside the rooms AND inside by the sinks, boxes of gloves that they use anytime there's a chance they might contact body fluids, lots of reminder signs posted, and I do see the staff using the hand sanitizer and washing hands frequently.

I don't know, maybe this is silly of me, but I sort of figure that the world is a dirty place and they will get exposed at some point. If you are worried about hospital cleanliness, wash YOUR hands before touching baby, avoid touching baby's eyes/face if you can, handwash before eating, after using the restroom, remind nurses to wash hands when they come to check you or baby, bring blankets/clothes from home, don't send baby to the nursery, ask your doc. now about the possibility of early discharge (they will let you go after as few as 6 hours from our hospital if you and babe are looking good).