lo is sick

[lyno]

I am planning a homebirth (any day now). My little boy is sick with a fever. Is this still ok if I go into labour tonight? I can call MW tomorrow, but I don't want to page just to ask this. Would the germs in the house affect anything?

[Honey693]

Originally Posted by lyno

Would the germs in the house affect anything?

I'm not an expert or anything, but I would assume the germs from your family are a lot less worse/numerous than the germs from however many people would be around your lo if you were delivering in a hospital.

[Nicole730]

I'm not an expert either, but I would go into labor, at home, if my child was ill.
If you end up not at home, in a hospital, and get the same fever your son has, you will probably end up with a lot of interventions you don't want.

I had a pretty nasty cold when I went into labor with DD. It seriously cleared up though, just before my water broke and on through labor and delivery. And then it came back about 12 hours after she was born.

[*MamaJen*]

I think you're fine. Right now, your adult immune system is building up antibodies to your little boy's illness, and as soon as you start nursing the newborn, you'll be passing those antibodies on to the baby.
In a hospital, you and your baby will be exposed to all kinds of crazy germs. Drug resistant staph, anyone?

[HeatherB]

I would be extra diligent about hand washing, and watch for any signs of infection post-birth. Likely as not, he has a viral illness and all will be fine. If he shows signs of strep or something equally aggressive (is there anything as aggressive as strep?!), I'd be more concerned, and definitely have him (and perhaps you) on abx as a precaution. However, it's extremely unlikely that his being sick would cause any problems.

[Banana731]

dd1 had a cold when dd2 was born. She started showing symptoms maybe 2 days after her sister was born, so I have to assume it was "incubating" when around the time of the birth. DD2 got a bit of a cold around 3 or 4 weeks which was a little shocking and freaky, but she was fine. Pre-schoolers get sick, there's just not a whole lot you can do.