Declining routine newborn procedures in IL

[Lemoncello]

I'm 23wks now, and I'm starting to think about the details of my birth plan so that I can be prepared to present it to my CNM and discuss it with her when the time comes. I'm pretty clear on what I want for myself and baby, but I don't know how diffiicult it will be for me to decline some of the newborn procedures.
Any input on your past experiences would be helpful!

Declining eye drops and vitamin K injection: any issues with refusing these? Are there alternatives to silver nitrate that would be less irritating to baby if my hospital is adamant about it? Should I go ahead and plan on getting some vit K drops so that I can inform the hospital personnel that we will use those instead?

Hep B shot: do I have to have a "religious reason" for refusing this one? I could definitely argue my case if so, but if I don't need to, I'd rather just flat out decline this vaccination at this point.

Bathing baby: I know this varies from hospital to hospital, but is there any "legal" reason that I couldn't decline this, or at least request that it be done in my room or with my husband/myself present and helping?

[SallyN]

have birthed twice in IL.

only procedure that is required by law is the PKU. if you want to avoid that, you'll need to do advance work. (note: I haven't heard of anyone actually declining it so have no advice on how to go about it.)

[DoulaMichelleIL]

I can say confidently (I'm a doula in Illinois) that you can decline all of those without giving a reason except as the PP said, the PKU test because it is mandatory. You will just have to sign refusal forms and may get "the look" depending on where you birth but who cares. Also, the hospitals will NOT use Vitamin K drops brought in by you because of liability. You will have to have your doc/midwife or pediatrician order them in the hospital through their pharmacy. If you haven't already, write a birth plan so that your wishes are in writing for everyone to see and make sure you have someone watching baby at all times immediately after birth so nothing is "slipped in" without your knowledge.

[kittywitty]

Varies by hospital. But as for the law, it's on your side to deny what you want. Make sure it's written out, reiterated to the staff, marked on your chart, and you don't let them out of sight.

[Lemoncello]

I'm fine with the PKU heel stick, so that's not a problem. I am writing out a birth plan to discuss with my CNM, so she will know what I want to avoid.

[boogaloo]

[QUOTE=DoulaMichelleIL;15608502]I can say confidently (I'm a doula in Illinois) that you can decline all of those without giving a reason except as the PP said, the PKU test because it is mandatory. You will just have to sign refusal forms and may get "the look" depending on where you birth but who cares.

I think that everyone should care if you refuse the newborn metabolic screening. Having worked with a child diagnosed with Maple Syrup Urine disease, I think it is unwise to suggest that it's okay to refuse the screening. OP - it's always good to do your research, I'm glad you are.

[Lemoncello]

I don't think she was referring to refusing the PKU screening, just the eye drops and vit K.

[LEAW]

We just refused to let them take dd out of our room, there was no reason (no need for NICU, etc.) so they had to do all procedures in the room.

It *so* annoyed the nurses to have to push the scale across the hall (it's already on a cart with wheels!) from the nursery to the room to weigh a baby.

FWIW, they won't touch your baby without gloves until the baby has been bathed. You don't have to bathe the baby at all, or you can have dad do it in the room (sponge bath, it's not a tub soaking), and you should take your own soap, they usually have icky stuff like J&J.

[DoulaMichelleIL]

[QUOTE=boogaloo;15608920]

Originally Posted by DoulaMichelleIL

I can say confidently (I'm a doula in Illinois) that you can decline all of those without giving a reason except as the PP said, the PKU test because it is mandatory. You will just have to sign refusal forms and may get "the look" depending on where you birth but who cares.

I think that everyone should care if you refuse the newborn metabolic screening. Having worked with a child diagnosed with Maple Syrup Urine disease, I think it is unwise to suggest that it's okay to refuse the screening. OP - it's always good to do your research, I'm glad you are.

I was referring to all the other stuff. I think it's smart and honestly, necessary to do the PKU screen. It doesn't hurt anything and caught early things can be taken care of. Misunderstanding of words. All the other stuff though, who cares what anyone thinks?

[Greenlea]

I refused all of those too, birthed in Aurora IL. I had a CNM. I had NO problems. I didn't bathe the baby either, just rubbed the vernix in and we did wash his hair though. The baby was never taken out of our room except to do the PKU. Just make sure they only do the heel prick if you are refusing the vit K shot, not draw blood.

[treehuggermama]

We refused everything except PKU and it was no problem. And I didn't have any of it in writing because it didn't occur to me to do that at the time.

[BirthNut]

What about when you UC? I have several friends who have homebirthed or UCed here in IL & declined everything. My other 2 children were born in IA & we declined EVERYTHING no problem, I'm hoping this one will be born in IA as well, but we live in IL so I was just wondering.

[RhianaW14]

Where are you? I had my dd in Naperville and I told the pediatrician beforehand I didn't want any shots, and he agreed 100%. I can give you their name if you like. I told the OB I didnt want the eye goop since I was having a c-section, and we also didn't do the Vit. K injection. They will give you the run around on the Hep B. You need to be sure that you tell them right as soon as you get there, and several times during the course of your delivery NO injections if you don't want any, because they routinely put the meds onto the delivery tray and inject them literally seconds after they come out. Sometimes you dont even know.

I never had issues at Edwards in Naperville.

[New_Natural_Mom]

Originally Posted by DoulaMichelleIL

Also, the hospitals will NOT use Vitamin K drops brought in by you because of liability. .

I didn't have a problem with this. We brought in drops with a script from our pedi. This was Alexian in Elg GRove. The pedi there was awesome. He actually ended up doing a lot of research about it and agreed, but my DH ended up wanting the shot and after a somewhat traumatic birth so I caved. So we did the shot, but they were cool with the drops. (This was in 2008).

[LEAW]

Oh and you *can* refuse the PKU test if you want. But it's a relatively low-intervention test for a high-risk disease.

[sk8boarder15]

I live in IL and will be birthing at Good Shepherd. I was PISSED when they told me on the tour that they discourage birth plans! I looked at my husband and said TOO BAD (even though I'm 34 weeks and still haven't written it) But I do know I can deny pretty much anything I want. I asked them a MILLION questions at the tour, all the other couples, just walked along and didn't question a thing. I made them show me the squat bar for the bed, TOLD them I would be holding the baby after birth... etc...

[MsBlack]

Originally Posted by LEAW

Oh and you *can* refuse the PKU test if you want. But it's a relatively low-intervention test for a high-risk disease.

I agree--but want to add that the 'PKU test' is not just testing these days for PKU disorder. Now, it is officially known as Newborn Screening, and gathering that handful of drops of your baby's blood now allows testing for about 40 different metabolic disorders, cystic fibrosis, congenital hypothyroidism.

You can find out more on the March of Dimes website

[BaliAli]

New_Natural_Mom - I know this thread is super old, but I just became a member, so I can't PM you.  I was wondering who your pediatrician was - I'm going to be giving birth at Alexian Brothers in November and I'm looking for a pediatrician who will be OK with delaying vaccines!  Thanks!!!