Medicaid and Dr Sears

[greencarnation]

My baby is going to be on medicaid, and I am worried about vaccines.  Ideally, I would just do select vaccines, but I am really worried about CPS.  I am thinking now about following Dr Sears' Delayed schedule (leaving off flu and chicken pox, because I do not want him getting those at all).  Since this is pretty much all the vaccines, scheduled by a doctor, do you think I could find a medicaid ped that would leave CPS out of it?

I want to do what I think is right, without causing drama.

[Adaline'sMama]

DD has been on Medicaid since she was born, and we selected our own ped (shes actually 30 miles away, too) and we have done selective vax. CPS cant make you vax your kid, and it is not a requirement while you are on Medicaid. I would look long and hard for a good ped in your area that falls in line with your beliefs. For me that checklist looked something like this:

Does your office support selective/delayed/no vax parents?
I intend to breastfeed exclusively, do you support that?
Do you recommend infant circ?

I then found three people that I knew used her as a doc, and they all loved her. One of my personal stipulations was that the doctor be female. I feel intimidated by male professionals, and I knew that there would probably be a time when I needed to hold my ground about something and I felt that I would be stronger if I was dealing with another mother instead of a man. I do not think women peds are any "better" than men though.

My ped allows selective/delayed vax, is a mother of 5 that her DH homeschools. She nursed all 5 of them, and she didnt mutilate any of their genitals . So, Id say she passed with flying colors. And Medicaid pays for her. Id look in Finding your Tribe to get suggestions for a ped in your area.

[greencarnation]

Thanks!  I am actually looking for a male ped, who is Hindu or another religion that doesn't circ.  I figure if he is intact, he will understand it better.  I know the Hindu family I was a nnay for had their boys intact, and they never even mentioned how to take of of it.  It was totally normal for them!

I'm going to get the paperwork done asap, and spend a lot of time calling around.  I may seem paranoid, but I grew up homeschooled, and reading HSLDA newsletter, so CPS freaks me out!

[KempsMama]

My boys were on Medicaid and my youngest is vax free, the two never had anything to do with each other.  Our Medicaid program does offer "incentives" for vaccinating on schedule, but I've never had an issue beyond "Don't you want the gift card??"  Nope, sorry, a $20 Wal Mart card is not going to convince me to vax my child.

[PoetryLover]

My son is on Medicaid and I posted in my Tribe for a doctor who was selective/delayed vax friendly (and vegetarian friendly because that was a concern of mine, too). MY DS has actually never been vaxed and he's 15 months. I don't think you need to worry about CPS, though, but finding a doctor who is supportive of your decisions is important and will prevent headaches from future lectures. :-)

For what it's worth, our DS sees our regular family doctor, not a ped. But folks in my local tribe recommended her very highly, and I couldn't be happier with our decision. Good luck finding a selective/delayed vax friendly doctor.

Edited by PoetryLover - 5/9/11 at 5:52pm

[lovingmommyhood]

I see a ped for my three children, am on medicaid and have never been asked about it either way. I wouldn't worry about that aspect!

[waiting2bemommy]

I have had Medicaid for 4 years now, both my kids are on it and I am currently on it while pregnant with my 3rd.

I highly highly doubt you are going to have CPS issues because of not vaxing. I've had CPS called on me twice and the second time was investigated rather thoroughly, and I don't even recall vaccines coming up at all. My kids have had several different peds and this point I don't even care what they think.

With the first baby I did care. I wanted the ped to have the same parenting style and all that. Now, because my ds has multiple issues going on, I choose to take both kids to an outpatient practice run by the local major children's hospital. Obviously they are very medicalized/mainstream and pro vaccines and all that. But honestly it can be as hard or as easy as you make it.

I don't volunteer controversial information and if it comes out somehow I just use the famed MDC "bean dip" approach. For example, "you should stick with the stage 2 foods and not be offering table food right now. It leads to obesity." As if the baby were a dog or something...."table food." My reply, "hmmmm. so, anyway, when is her next well baby check?" Or another gem while handing me the vaccine refusal paperwork, "your baby can die from chickenpox. Are you aware of that?" Me with a smile "This is about the 1 millionth vaccine I've refused in the last 3 years. Where do I sign?" and so on.

And if for some odd reason someone called CPS on me for not vaxing, knowing what I know now after 2 go rounds with them, I would tell them that it was none of their business, and shut the door. They can't actually do anything about it, even if they are called, because it's not illegal to refuse vaccines. If you were really worried, you could go get a religious exemption form, sign it and keep it on file. But it would take an exceptionally bored or vindictive doctor to make that call, and a very rare caseworker to have time to follow up on that, I'd think.

Oh, and my last pregnancy I used a home birht midwife though I ended up with a hospital birth. I'm planning a home birth this time. It's all paid for by Medicaid. You have choices, they just don't want you to know about it!

[Adaline'sMama]

Originally Posted by waiting2bemommy 

I have had Medicaid for 4 years now, both my kids are on it and I am currently on it while pregnant with my 3rd.

I highly highly doubt you are going to have CPS issues because of not vaxing. I've had CPS called on me twice and the second time was investigated rather thoroughly, and I don't even recall vaccines coming up at all. My kids have had several different peds and this point I don't even care what they think.

With the first baby I did care. I wanted the ped to have the same parenting style and all that. Now, because my ds has multiple issues going on, I choose to take both kids to an outpatient practice run by the local major children's hospital. Obviously they are very medicalized/mainstream and pro vaccines and all that. But honestly it can be as hard or as easy as you make it.

I don't volunteer controversial information and if it comes out somehow I just use the famed MDC "bean dip" approach. For example, "you should stick with the stage 2 foods and not be offering table food right now. It leads to obesity." As if the baby were a dog or something...."table food." My reply, "hmmmm. so, anyway, when is her next well baby check?" Or another gem while handing me the vaccine refusal paperwork, "your baby can die from chickenpox. Are you aware of that?" Me with a smile "This is about the 1 millionth vaccine I've refused in the last 3 years. Where do I sign?" and so on.

And if for some odd reason someone called CPS on me for not vaxing, knowing what I know now after 2 go rounds with them, I would tell them that it was none of their business, and shut the door. They can't actually do anything about it, even if they are called, because it's not illegal to refuse vaccines. If you were really worried, you could go get a religious exemption form, sign it and keep it on file. But it would take an exceptionally bored or vindictive doctor to make that call, and a very rare caseworker to have time to follow up on that, I'd think.

Oh, and my last pregnancy I used a home birht midwife though I ended up with a hospital birth. I'm planning a home birth this time. It's all paid for by Medicaid. You have choices, they just don't want you to know about it!

Hmmm, not in Kentucky. You cant use Medicaid for a midwife if it is illegal for midwives to practice in your state:).

Waiting2bemommy is right about everything being as easy or as hard as you make it. I am so much more confident and have the ability to just flat out refuse stuff without worrying about offending anyone at an outpaitent care center or a hospital. It is a lot harder to use the "pass the bean dip" approach with a ped that you are trying to maintain a positive relationship with than with a super medicalized doctor in an environment where you are aware that you are completely out of place.

[Amatullah0]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 


Hmmm, not in Kentucky. You cant use Medicaid for a midwife if it is illegal for midwives to practice in your state:).

 

Nope, nor if your state's medicaid refuses to cover out of hospital birth (though, if we do go with a midwife(as opposed to UC) for the next babe, and we have medicaid, we will be trying to convince them to cover the $1k homebirth fee---they already cover the cost of prenatals)

But, DS is unvaxed, mostly, and we've never had a problem other than the insane amount of "OMG, did you know your kid isn't vax'd?!??!!!!" letters and postcards. 

Our ped isn't supportive of our choice to not vax, and THAT is why DS ended up with the few vaxes that he did get.

[lovingmommyhood]

Originally Posted by Amatullah0 

Nope, nor if your state's medicaid refuses to cover out of hospital birth (though, if we do go with a midwife(as opposed to UC) for the next babe, and we have medicaid, we will be trying to convince them to cover the $1k homebirth fee---they already cover the cost of prenatals)

But, DS is unvaxed, mostly, and we've never had a problem other than the insane amount of "OMG, did you know your kid isn't vax'd?!??!!!!" letters and postcards. 

Our ped isn't supportive of our choice to not vax, and THAT is why DS ended up with the few vaxes that he did get.

[BabiiAdriian]

Originally Posted by greencarnation 

My baby is going to be on medicaid, and I am worried about vaccines.  Ideally, I would just do select vaccines, but I am really worried about CPS.  I am thinking now about following Dr Sears' Delayed schedule (leaving off flu and chicken pox, because I do not want him getting those at all).  Since this is pretty much all the vaccines, scheduled by a doctor, do you think I could find a medicaid ped that would leave CPS out of it?

I want to do what I think is right, without causing drama.

I think that it is awful that we must feel like we might have CPS coming after us, or that we are neglecting our children when we selective/delay/no vax. It's CRAZY! I do know that CPS will not be coming after you. My son has been on Medicaid since he was born. I automatically thought that since it was Medicaid, I would have a crappy and limited selection of Pediatricians to choose from. My son and I have been fired from our first Peds practice (for vax refusal), left the Second Peds practice (discouraged me from breastfeeding), and now we are waiting until he is 1 year old so that he can join with my family practitioner. My advise is to look around, even if you have to go through a few doctors. Don't ever feel like they are going to call and turn you in. :) If at all possible, try to find a Family Practice Doc. I found an awesome Hindi Doc, who is not pushy about vax or circum, He even does house calls. Just anticipate drama. But hope things go well for you!

P.S. I went to the welfare office to sign up for Food Stamps. The case manager was very rude. She treated my like I was inferior and ignorant (when really I had just been put on leave from work without pay and when I wanted to return to work I had been layed off). I brought up that I didn't want my son on a vaccination schedule and she yelled at me. She told me that I was endangering my childs life and that she would have to call the authorities if I did not comply. It was a requirement. I walked out and said SCREW THE EFFING FOOD STAMPS!

[Lamashtu]

I just wanted to thank you ladies for the courage to unabashedly post for the world to see that you are on Medicaid.  Unfortunately, society as a whole views Medicaid recipients as lazy, slovenly drains on society who take everything and contribute nothing.  You ladies show that even those who are reliant on public assistance can and do have an active voice in their child's medical care.  I really respect that you refuse to raise your child by anyone's idea of what is "right" except for your own.  ESPECIALLY the mama upthread who basically told a rude clerk what she could do with her foodstamps!   Brava, mamas, and best of luck in getting back on your feet!

[hiamyj]

I am going to throw in my 2 cents worth of advice....  I am a Critical Care RN with 18 years of experience dealing with doctors and medical authorities.  I do not want to go into a log winded discussion of why I am against vaccinations, but I have yet to find a doctor or medical professional who can argue me under the table in support of vaccinations or even circ for that matter.  I have done my research, attended workshops and I have facts and data to back up my arguments on the dangers of vax and circ, AND that there is no medical proof that they are actually beneficial.   My best source is Lawrence Pavelsky, M.D.  You can google at your leisure...he also has a movie coming out about vaccinations that is very much like "The Biz of Being Born."  As PP said, you can sign a religious exemption for school, etc if necessary...some states already have a philosophical exemption as well.

Ask your pediatrician this..."IF this vaccination is harmless, why do I have to sign a legal document to prevent a lawsuit if my child is harmed by this vaccination?"

This is what I said to my Ped and he he smiled and never brought up the subject again..." If you can give me a legal document that will guarantee that this vaccination will not give my child autism, cause a neurological disorder, leave mercury deposits in her brain, or harm her in any way AND provide proof that she will never contract polio, diptheria, tetanus (etc) then ok, I will consider it."

Each mother only wants what is best for her child or children, but it sure helps to have a convincing argument for why or why not when making medical decisions.  Do your own research! :)

[cat13]

Originally Posted by hiamyj 

I am going to throw in my 2 cents worth of advice....  I am a Critical Care RN with 18 years of experience dealing with doctors and medical authorities.  I do not want to go into a log winded discussion of why I am against vaccinations, but I have yet to find a doctor or medical professional who can argue me under the table in support of vaccinations or even circ for that matter.  I have done my research, attended workshops and I have facts and data to back up my arguments on the dangers of vax and circ, AND that there is no medical proof that they are actually beneficial.   My best source is Lawrence Pavelsky, M.D.  You can google at your leisure...he also has a movie coming out about vaccinations that is very much like "The Biz of Being Born."  As PP said, you can sign a religious exemption for school, etc if necessary...some states already have a philosophical exemption as well.

Ask your pediatrician this..."IF this vaccination is harmless, why do I have to sign a legal document to prevent a lawsuit if my child is harmed by this vaccination?"

This is what I said to my Ped and he he smiled and never brought up the subject again..." If you can give me a legal document that will guarantee that this vaccination will not give my child autism, cause a neurological disorder, leave mercury deposits in her brain, or harm her in any way AND provide proof that she will never contract polio, diptheria, tetanus (etc) then ok, I will consider it."

Each mother only wants what is best for her child or children, but it sure helps to have a convincing argument for why or why not when making medical decisions.  Do your own research! :)

I think I need to memorize this for future use!