erythromycin eye ointment after birth

[mercheval]

I am horribly allergic to erythromycin and I am worried that my baby will be too. They give the baby erythromycin eye ointment after birth to make sure they don't have any infections in their eyes. Such as goneria which can cause permanent blindness to the infant, and 80% of women don't show any symptoms. I don't have any symptoms that something might be wrong, but I just recently found out that my partner was unfaithful. I was tested back in January, but I'm thinking I should get tested again before the baby is born in October. I'm a little embarrassed to ask my midwife to have it done again.

I'm basically worried that I am going to blind my baby. Either from erythromycin or from some infection I don't know if I have. : /

Anyone have any advice?

[Veritaserum]

I would retest for the STDs and ask about alternatives to erythromycin if the results were positive. I'm sorry you're in this situation. :-(

[Youngfrankenstein]

I would say calm down and get the facts.

So if you're doing care with a mw or ob, you probably had a blood work up when you had your first pre-natal. That should have screened you for any STDs. Of course if you are having unprotected sex it's possible you could get an STD, but I assume you understand all of that.

If you weren't tested, it's easy to have done. Don't feel embarrassed. You are not in the minority of people who need to screen for this stuff. That is why they test virtually every single pregnant woman.

If you are healthy, I would skip the eye ointment. We had a homebirth this time around and didn't do any "stuff" to the baby after birth. I believe that is an incredibly safe option if all are in good health to begin with.

[Mrs.Music]

I'd say just get retested before the birth. If everything comes back clean, you can skip the ointment. I had a hospital birth (preemies) and skipped it myself.

[kltroy]

I voted yes, IF it is not possible to just retest for STDs. Ideally though, you'd just retest and then it would be a non-issue.

[is it puppies?]

Retest and then stay celibate!

[MegBoz]

Sorry you're facing this.
I definitely say retest & have your partner tested too if you plan to be sexually active with him again moving forward. (I dunno, but I suppose it's possible that he has it, but hasn't given it to you yet so I'd feel better doing it that way.)

You certainly don't have to tell your MW that your partner was unfaithful. Just tell her you want to retest. Hopefully she has some common sense & will realize that asking, "Why?" would be impolite, so she'll say nothing. & even if she does ask why, just tell her you're paranoid & you just want to. You don't have to give her details!

Insurance may not cover a re-test since it's not normally part of prenatal care. (For example, I tried hibiclens wash & asked to be rested for GBS, so I had to pay out of pocket for the 2nd test, even though the 1st was covered 100%.) But you can just tell her you realize that & you'll pay out-of-pocket.

[WTHamI?]

I would get retested. And if you are still with your partner or if there's any possibility you may be again before the baby is born, I would have him get tested too (and use condoms). If you're negative, then you have peace of mind about refusing the eye ointment, and if it's positive you can discuss possible alternatives to erythromycin with your midwife. Either way you need to know if you caught something from him, not just for the baby's health but for your own. I am also allergic to erythromycin and will refuse it for my kids, but if I was in your situation I'd start with finding out for sure if I had contracted something first and go from there. Sorry you're going through this.

[babyjelly]

Even if you test positive, the things they use the eye ointment to prevent can be treated in you with a single dose, and then you test again in a week to make sure you didn't have a superstrain of whatever (yeah, btdt).
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