Hep B- Do we just accept it?

[JillianJ]

My daughter (now 2 1/2) was given the Hep B in the hospital without my permission. I was quite upset when I discovered this because I wanted her to be vax-free at least for a few years, probably more or never. I've noticed others commenting on the same thing. Is there no recourse for this? I hate to think that we are all just sitting here saying Oh Well and letting it continue to happen. I'm very frustrated, but don't know what to do or where to go with this!

My daughter has some eczema on her legs and some dark circle (allergies) and now I have to wonder if these symptoms were caused by the Hep B shot. I was hoping that if anything was observed with her I would at least know it's not the shots. Now I can't be sure.

Jillian

[annalily]

I'm sorry this happened! I know there is another mama here whose baby was given hep b in the hospital without her permission too. Maybe she will see your post and answer. If I recall correctly, no lawyer wanted to help because no apparent harm had come of it. Or something like that.

[pilesoflaundry]

I am one of those mamas but I just let it go because the nurse claimed my dh okayed it even though I didn't. Dh said he doesn't remember but if the nurse had said I just need your permission to give her x, y or z without a second thought he probably would have just said yeah. So since he can't remember, the nurse said he said yeah and I said no there wasn't much to be done. But in some ways it was a blessing because dh was still very on the fence about not vaxing and I was still researching and at the time just delaying. Well after the hep b made her want to do nothing but sleep and fuss it made me realize no way was I vaxing at all and it helped dh get on board a bit more.

If you can prove the docs or nurses went against your will you might have a case depending on the laws in your state. s I'm sorry that happened to you.

[thepeach80]

Depending on what you signed when you went in and if you had papers on file for no vax etc is if you can do anything. If nothing else, you can file a complaint w/ the hospital about it. When you get admitted, they usually have you sign a paper along the lines of "I give permission to let them do anything they want if they feel it'll help the baby, blah, blah". Unless you made stipulations to this, they basically have the right to do whatever they want. I of course didn't know all this when I went in to have AJ, but they don't give hep B at birth here. I'll know better next time and have a list if stipulations to add to that. I'm sorry you had to deal w/ this!

[JillianJ]

I had no idea they would even consider this....

as I was there for a c-section (first child was an emergency C) and she was coming 2 weeks early. I never even thought they would do something like this so didn't have any papers ready!!!

But guess what else! At her 2 week checkup, which was really her due date, they didn't bother to check her paperwork and were planning to give her ANOTHER Hep B shot. At this time of course I declined even though I had no idea they gave her the first (hadn't seen the med records yet). Can you imagine if I agreed? 2 Hep B shots in 2 weeks before and up to her actual birth date!!

Trust yourselves ladies. We're all they've got. Learned that with my first.
Jillian

[mealymama]

Ok. I was expecting this and what I did was this: went to the hospital months before due date and got AS MUCH of the paperwork as I could in advance. It's absurd that you should be expected to read that much fine print while in labor, dealing with contractions, and later on learning to mother while exhausted, perhaps hemorrhaging, et cetera...
I highlighted everything I disputed, made notes and initialed. I was forced to sign against-medical-advice forms later on when I was admitted...
HepB was a big point of contention for these people and they kept trying to drive fear into me by saying I would be soley responsible if something happened to my babe because of my decision. Right. In case my baby becomes sexually active or travels to Asia while I'm napping... how scary for me.
I also made a very detailed birthing plan, photocopied it, and gave it to everybody I saw at my pre-natals. I drove them crazy, but when you deal with a practice that rotates nurses/doctors and you rarely see the same person twice, you must be persistent. During my labor the shifts changed several times and again, I got on everybody's nerves by repeating, again and again, those few things that THEY WERE NOT TO DO after they ripped DD away from me and took her to the nursery. They tried to take advantage of my 'vulnerability' and wear me down with a lot of resistance, but it didn't phase me a bit and, in the end, SO MANY PEOPLE witnessed my objections that they would have been in some deep doo-doo if they tried to get sneaky.

[mealymama]

LOL
I just remembered I actually wrote MESS WITH MY BABY AND I WILL SUE YOU!!!
across the top
I'd already learned how this system works, by then

[DreamsInDigital]

Oh goodness no, you don't have to just accept it! My DS didn't have any of that crap done to him in the hospital. I made it very clear to the nurse who was waiting to weigh and measure him that he was not to have the hep. b vax, my partner, midwife and all my nurses knew it, too. You just have to speak up and know your rights.

[thepeach80]

That is a great idea about getting all the paperwork in advance! I never thought of that. I will definitely do that this time. What I won't do though is let baby out of my sight. I made this mistake last time b/c I simply couldn't take care of him, but not this time. Baby will be w/ me at all times barring extenuating circumstances.

[mealymama]

At this birthing center it's their routine to take the baby away for apgars and observation or some such nonsense... at the time I didn't think I had an option.

[Gitti]

Hep B

DD had a birthing plan in place with the doctor(s), hospital, and in her traveling bag. All made it very clear: No circumcision, No Vit K, No eye drops, No Hep B, No heating lamp, No episiotomy, No drugs, No... gosh, I forgot what all, but they followed her birthing plan exactly.

She also had three people in place to take turns watching over the baby when he was not on her breast.

"Mess with my baby and I will sue you!" sounds like the perfect solution to me.

[Gitti]

Hep B

Hepatitis B Vaccine

[Katana]

My daughter was vaccinated with Hep B against our permission. We had the waiver signed, had made our wishes clear, etc.

Because she was born about a month early, she was in NICU for three days, and then in a step down unit for a week after that. Right before she was allowed to come home, when dh and I were messing around with the discharge department, someone 'accidentally' gave her the hep b shot.

The staff I talked to claimed that the person who gave her the shot couldn't read the huge, black NO HEP B we had written on our waiver. This is at one of the top ten hospitals in the Chicago land area. The staff can't read or understand the word no? Right.

I was beyond furious. I called two different lawyers, who basically laughed me off the phone. They said that unless I could prove that the hep b shot had damaged her, which was virtually impossible, there was really nothing I could do, other than complain to the hospital. They wouldn't help me. And these were vaccine damage case type of lawyers.

So, I complained to the hospital. Dd will be four in October, and I have yet to receive any kind of letter or verbal apology I was supposed to receive from the illiterate shot giver. I've heard, several times, that every baby born in a hospital is given the hep b shot, regardless of the parents wishes. I believe it. And I think the few that manage to be with their babies the whole time, or slip through the cracks so they don't get it are very, very lucky.

The hospital administrator claimed that she was being sent to a "Learn to read Medical Forms/Waivers" class, but I have my doubts. I let it all go, it just wasn't worth my raised blood pressure, hysterical bouts of crying, or nightmares. I can only hope that the next person who goes in there with a NO HEP B waiver might get treated a little better, because they might remember me.

I learned a lot from the experience. When ds was hospitalized, two years later, I never left him alone. Anyone who gave him anything, I had to know what it was, what it did, etc. I refused a major test for him, and got hell for it, until the two departments arguing over it figured out that the one saying no test was right. I was validated, and yes, it felt great.

You just have to be a crazy mama or papa bear. Mess with my baby and I will sue you is exactly right. I also have the motto of, just get out of there, as fast as you can.

[Katana]

I also wanted to add, that I never got any support or help from my supposed natural and non vaxing pediatrician.

I took dd in to see him when she was two weeks old, and I started to cry in his office. I said I was scared that she was going to die or get very sick or have lasting medical problems from the hep b vaccine that she had been given against my wishes. My fears were compounded because of her earliness, and I was worried about extra damage being done because of it.

His answer was, plenty of babies have five or six vaccines given to them at a time, and they're fine. She just had the one, she'll be okay.

I picked her up, left the office, and found another pediatrician.

The whole thing still makes me :

[Katana]

All Kids Count is a project of the Task Force for Child Survival and Development headquartered at The Carter Center (former President Jimmy Carter) in Atlanta, which is directed by former CDC director Dr. William Foege. The Task Force is supported by the World Health Organization, World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, United Nation's Population Fund and vaccine manufacturers, entities which also sponsor the Children's Vaccine Initiative (CVI). The CVI, headquartered in Geneva, was launched in 1990 at the World Summit for Children and promotes "the development and utilization" of vaccines by all of the world's children.

Forced vaccination with hepatitis B vaccine is also promoted in states by non-profit organizations such as Every Child by Two, founded in 1991 by former First Lady Rosalyn Carter and Betty Bumpers, wife of Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers. Every Child by Two is funded in part by grants from Merck, Lederle and Connaught, the three largest U.S. vaccine manufacturers.

I bolded that very interesting part from Gitti's link.

Why, oh why, couldn't the Carters have been happy with Habitat for Humanity and left it with that.

Boo on them. :

[pilesoflaundry]

Notice who funds the every child by 2 program? Good 'ole merck : : And they say they are no conspiracy therories and it's not about cash bulls%^#!!

[Karry]

to those who have had their child receive the Hep B without their permission. Shame on these hospitals for not following informed consent.

My first two kids were not given Hep B at birth, but at 2 months of age. I was surprised at the birth of my third when the nurse tried to give him the Hep B when he was a few hours old. I told her no and that he would have it done at the ped's office. He still hasn't had any vaxes of yet. I am still deciding when and if he will have any. I just don't understand the need to give a brand new baby a vax. :