What will happen at the birth?? - Page 2

[mad4mady]

Originally Posted by kythe 

Originally Posted by drs0410 

What's wrong with those other things you listed? I haven't done any research on those and didn't know they were a problem.

I had an epidural with both my kids and was still aware any time someone came into the room. I was "all there" in labor as well. Sometimes epidurals get a bad rep, but they caused no problems for me. My labors were smooth, and my kids were healthy and learned to nurse just fine. I saw no reason to suffer any more than I had to.

 

Originally Posted by outlier 

Our entire birth plan was this:

- No eye ointment

- No vitamin K shot

- No hepatitis B vaccine

- No circumcision

They aren't necessarily a problem.  They are routine newborn procedures in hospitals.  However, some people opt out of these based on their understanding of the purposes of these routines.

Eye ointment (I think its erythromycin) is an antibiotic given to prevent the transmission of gonorrhea from mother to infant.  It is very necessary when it is unclear whether mom has gonorrhea but if mom knows she is disease free, she can opt out of the eye ointment for her baby with no dire consequences.

Vitamin K helps prevent excessive bleeding in rare cases, but since most healthy full-term babies are not at risk of bleeding issues, some moms opt out of the injection.

The Hep B vaccine is effective at helping prevent Hep B transmission from mom to baby if given within 12 hours of the birth.  But again, if mom does not have Hep B, there is no purpose in giving the vaccine to a newborn.

Unfortunately, hospitals are not generally used to people who refuse the "standard" care, and many moms consent to these procedures without having a full understanding of what they are for. 

Is there no other reason for the eye ointment then that?? LOL, I thought it was something that helped reduce eye swelling. Gosh, I really need to research all this more. With DD I was just clueless. Thank you MDC for helping educate me throughout the years!!!!

[outlier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mad4mady 

Originally Posted by kythe 

Originally Posted by drs0410 

What's wrong with those other things you listed? I haven't done any research on those and didn't know they were a problem.

I had an epidural with both my kids and was still aware any time someone came into the room. I was "all there" in labor as well. Sometimes epidurals get a bad rep, but they caused no problems for me. My labors were smooth, and my kids were healthy and learned to nurse just fine. I saw no reason to suffer any more than I had to.
 

Originally Posted by outlier 

Our entire birth plan was this:

- No eye ointment

- No vitamin K shot

- No hepatitis B vaccine

- No circumcision

They aren't necessarily a problem.  They are routine newborn procedures in hospitals.  However, some people opt out of these based on their understanding of the purposes of these routines.

Eye ointment (I think its erythromycin) is an antibiotic given to prevent the transmission of gonorrhea from mother to infant.  It is very necessary when it is unclear whether mom has gonorrhea but if mom knows she is disease free, she can opt out of the eye ointment for her baby with no dire consequences.

Vitamin K helps prevent excessive bleeding in rare cases, but since most healthy full-term babies are not at risk of bleeding issues, some moms opt out of the injection.

The Hep B vaccine is effective at helping prevent Hep B transmission from mom to baby if given within 12 hours of the birth.  But again, if mom does not have Hep B, there is no purpose in giving the vaccine to a newborn.

Unfortunately, hospitals are not generally used to people who refuse the "standard" care, and many moms consent to these procedures without having a full understanding of what they are for. 

Is there no other reason for the eye ointment then that?? LOL, I thought it was something that helped reduce eye swelling. Gosh, I really need to research all this more. With DD I was just clueless. Thank you MDC for helping educate me throughout the years!!!!

Yep, it's to prevent infection and (rarely) resulting blindness from gonorrhea and chlamydia bacteria.  I don't have either of those, nor do I have hep B, so that's why I said no to those.  As for vit. K, I decided to take it orally and pass it on to him through breastmilk rather than have him injected with it.

And I didn't have him circed because mammalian penises are supposed to have a foreskin. 

[mad4mady]

Originally Posted by outlier 

And I didn't have him circed because mammalian penises are supposed to have a foreskin. 

Thats always been where I stand. Its like Hello its obviously there for a reason...nature just doesn't add on accessories!!

[KaylaBeanie]

I plan to home birth, but if I end up in the hospital for any reason (transfer, necessary planned section or pre-term labor) I'm so paranoid that my husband's only job is to chase after the baby with a sharpie and write "NO CIRC!" under the cord stump (yes, exclamation point and all). It might sound extreme, but I'm highly skeptical and since I wouldn't know the doctors, I don't trust that they'd honor a birth plan or consent form.

[NewSolarMomma]

The hospital I was at didn't even ASK if we wanted my son circ'ed- they just DIDN'T do it!!! The default position there is NO CIRC if you want it done, you have to ask for it. (SHARP Mary Birch, San Diego. It is a hospital for ONLY women and their newborns. They deliver 7,000 babies a year, so it's really cool I wasn't even asked if I wanted it done)

My experience: After the fog of labor lifted, I got worried that they might have gone ahead and circed my son. I didnt refuse any of the other tests or meds/vax (I do all vax and tests) so I was worried circ was also standard practice, and I hadn't brought it up prior to the delivery so they didn't know my wishes. After my 2 day labor ending in CS, I was too tired and disoriented to think about it, or keep him with me to make sure they didnt do it. Thankfully, they DON'T CIRC unless specifically asked. Whew! What a pleasant surprise!

I learned a few things from my sons birth:
1) Planning is important! I didn't expect a CS, and didn't have a plan for making sure there was no circ in this situation. Don't let this happen to you! It was very important to me that he didn't get cut up, and I would have been very hurt had it happened because I hadn't thought far enough ahead. I guess I figured the delivery would be normal (no reason to think otherwise!) and he would be with me the whole time. I was not prepared when that didn't happen.
2) In some areas circ is no longer the default- THANKS to all the advocates that made this change happen and who educated others about why circ is unnecessary, even harmful.
3) There are LOTS of anti circ people out there in the mainstream, and they come out if its brought up but not otherwise. I even had old friends ask if I was going to circ, so they could tell me why it was bad! And these are not "natural" types either.

I always knew I wouldn't circ. As an atheist, I didn't want to promote a barbaric religious practice on my baby, and knew there were no compelling health reasons for it either. I was happy to learn that I was not in the minority, it just seemed that way, which means many more babies will be spared this disfigurement.

[NewSolarMomma]

Drs0410- said
What's wrong with those other things you listed? I haven't done any research on those and didn't know they were a problem.

I got them all, I've never seen any evidence of compelling reasons to avoid these things, but everyone has their own personal beliefs. You CAN substitute and delay them without harm. (The only thing I think is unreasonable to totally skip is not on this list, and that's avoiding the PKU test.)

I don't have an STD and trust my DH, but better safe than sorry when it comes to potential blindness. I would never forgive myself if my baby was blinded because I trusted my DH and didn't get him eye gook, which did him no harm. I do all vaxxes anyway, so I didn't see any reason to delay the Hep B shot, but I could have. Oral vit K is an option if you are bothered by shots, Im not and my son wasn't.

But circ- NO WAY! I refuse to mutilate my sons genitals!

[Pirogi]

Originally Posted by NewSolarMomma 

I don't have an STD and trust my DH, but better safe than sorry when it comes to potential blindness. I would never forgive myself if my baby was blinded because I trusted my DH and didn't get him eye gook, which did him no harm. I do all vaxxes anyway, so I didn't see any reason to delay the Hep B shot, but I could have. Oral vit K is an option if you are bothered by shots, Im not and my son wasn't.

 

Not to beat a dead, off-topic horse, but there is a school of thought that one of the drawbacks to the erythromycin is that it prevents a baby from seeing for a few hours.  Many infants will have a period of sleep a little while after the birth, so it wouldn't affect anything if the infant was sleeping (assuming you believe that a topical ocular antibiotic with a low probability of true indication for its use does no harm to the body).  But if a baby immediately has erythromycin put into his/her eyes, then the visual contact with mom doesn't occur in the first period of wakefulness.  And there have been studies that show that this first eye contact with mom is important to the infant's development later on.
 

[outlier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirogi 

Originally Posted by NewSolarMomma 

I don't have an STD and trust my DH, but better safe than sorry when it comes to potential blindness. I would never forgive myself if my baby was blinded because I trusted my DH and didn't get him eye gook, which did him no harm. I do all vaxxes anyway, so I didn't see any reason to delay the Hep B shot, but I could have. Oral vit K is an option if you are bothered by shots, Im not and my son wasn't.

 

Not to beat a dead, off-topic horse, but there is a school of thought that one of the drawbacks to the erythromycin is that it prevents a baby from seeing for a few hours.  Many infants will have a period of sleep a little while after the birth, so it wouldn't affect anything if the infant was sleeping (assuming you believe that a topical ocular antibiotic with a low probability of true indication for its use does no harm to the body).  But if a baby immediately has erythromycin put into his/her eyes, then the visual contact with mom doesn't occur in the first period of wakefulness.  And there have been studies that show that this first eye contact with mom is important to the infant's development later on.
 

  And to continue whacking at said horse, blindness only occurs in untreated infections caused by gonorrhea and chlamydia bacteria.  If ds had started showing any signs of eye infection whatsoever, no matter which bacteria caused it, I would have had him treated with the eye ointment at that time.

[mad4mady]

Hi ladies-

I wanted to give an update. I called the hospital and they told me that they do circ at the hospital however, it is considered an elective medical procedure and I must sign paperwork to elect to have it preformed. That they in no way would do the procedure without having the proper medical paperwork signed...well, we all know that doesn't always happen so I a little less nervous about the possibility but, still not totally comfortable about it.

I would be more relaxed to hear that they do not do them at all so there would be no chance of mix up but, the nurse I talked to did sound very serious about the matter. I still plan not to allow Baby out of DH or my site (which I would have done anyways) and I do think I will still write a large note in all caps just to be extra safe

Megan

[kythe]

That sounds reassuring. It seems they are used to taking people seriously who want to keep their boys intact. You do live in an area with a relatively low circ rate, so they probably see non-circing parents frequently.

Pirogi, you may be thinking of the silver nitrate that used to be standard for the infant eye drops. It did cause temporary blindness, and rarely permanent blindness. It hasn't been used for many years though. Erythromycin antibiotic drops have few side effects.

As a nurse, I have administered erythromycin drops to adults who have bacterial eye infections. Most people don't report side effects at all, but I do remember one man who complained that it stung for a minute and he couldn't see for a couple of minutes after application. I remember going in his room once while he was watching tv, and he asked me to come back in a few minutes during the commercial break. He figured the stinging and temporary blurred vision would wear off by the time the show came back on, so he wouldn't miss anything. That's the most severe side effect I've personally seen from the erythromycin eye drops.

[Pirogi]

Interesting ... I had my only other baby at home and haven't ever actually seen it used.  I figured that since everyone uses the term "goop" that it would be thick and vision-altering.

[lookatreestar]

i dunno babies that get the goop look pretty bleary eyed to me... both mine looked me over right after they popped out. such an amazing thing to have this tiny new person just staring at you with intense little eyes.

[mad4mady]

Funny Update...second ultrasound shows we are having a girl Well, at least I know all about the circ protocal that I no longer need to worry about. LOL