Antibiotic eye ointment & water birth?

[dctexan]

Hi everyone. I have a question that I hope some of you birth professionals can help me out with...

I went over my birth plan with my midwife today (we are doing a hospitalized water birth) and she was fine with almost everything I wrote. One exception was that I did not consent to antibiotic eye treatment (I am negative for STDs). She said, that since was I doing a waterbirth, I probably should go ahead and do the eye treatment. This is the first time I have ever heard anything about increased risk of eye infections due to a waterbirth. Her reasoning was that there would be bacteria in the water and that it was better to be safe than sorry. When I asked if they blurred the baby's vision she said that baby's had pretty bad vision at birth anyway (which I know to be true...but I don't want to interfer with what little the babe CAN see!) and that only the silver nitrate would cause blurred vision. Does anyone have any thoughts, opinions, or facts about any of this? Thanks!

[Twinklefae]

The eye gunk they use is the same stuff I used earlier this year for pink eye, and it SEVERLY affected my vision for about 30min after I put it in. (I had to time it so that I could drive to work, and not kill myself.)

Don't know about the water birth, and am not a birth professional.

[Reha]

The advice she has given is purely her opinion. I bet she would be hard-pressed to come up with evidence to back this practice. :

The eye ointment is DEFINATELY not something we suggest to parents simply because you are planning a waterbirth.

Let's remember that the only reason they administer it is to protect against a severe eye infection (which could result in blindness) from chlyamadia or gonorrhea. You already know you test negative both of these. A waterbirth is NOT an indication for antibiotic eye ointment.

If for whatever weird, odd reason your baby were to develop an eye infection from some random bacteria after birth, you would have more than enough time to treat it, with antibiotic ointment if you wanted.

[meggles]

Eh, I still would not do it. It messes up their vision and I've heard it can cause tear duct problems later on. There will be bacteria in the water, but there will also be bacteria on you and your dp...and you're going to touch your babe, aren't you?

[bryonyvaughn]

Just to be a little twerp...

Originally Posted by dctexan

...Does anyone have any thoughts, opinions, or facts about any of this?

Are they planning on draining and cleaning the tub between STD+ birthers and you? :

~BV

[pamamidwife]

The solution to pollution is dilution. Not to mention that your baby NEEDS to be exposed to your bacteria -

Dilution, dilution. I agree - I'd love to see her research on this. Bunk!

[Charmie981]

I've use the eye ointment from my birth kit in my son's eye when he had an infection. He was 5 and it made him so uncomfortable he'd cry and fight with me about putting it in, FWIW.

I've heard a lot of this kind of stuff, the "well, even if you don't have an STD, there's still bacteria in the vagina..." I'll admit the birth pool variation is new, but I just don't think it matters that much. If baby gets a plugged tear duct or an eye infection, squirt some breast milk in his eye and be done.

OT: Pam, I think we all know now what your particular "midwife crusade" is...LOL! I still have the darn thing in my birth kits; I need to take it off of that list!!

[linaee]

I also agree with the pp's about the eye ointment. You were tested for these, most likely, at 12 weeks and unless you or your DP have been having unprotected sex with other people as well as each other since then, then the risk of getting such an infection is nil. Plus, the whole bacteria thing...didn't your baby just spend 9+ months inside you : ...along this logic, your bacteria is the *best* for your baby to be exposed to.

Also, as far as the baby being able to see at birth: Immediately after birth, babies have a quiet alert period and they often seek out the faces of their mother and father. Babies can seeabout 12 inches, which is the distance between mama and baby's faces when baby is nursing. I like to think this is not a coincidence.

For more information about this and baby's ability to see,etc, please see Dr. David Chamberlain's work. He is a psychologist that has done extensive research on prenatal and perinatal psychology. Here is one link that is more about a newborn's experince of pain, but it is interesting.
http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/chamberlain/

You can also see if you can get your hands on a copy of his VHS/DVD called "Babies Know More Than Your Think." It is excellent and I use snippets of it in my childbirth classes.

Here is another link with more related content that you may want to look at. It is the association that Dr. Chamberlain started.
http://www.birthpsychology.com/birth...l#Introduction

There is a lot of info there about how important that first hour is for baby and parents to be able to bond. If the baby's vision is even more impaired than it would be without the eye ointment, it is just one more thing to interrupt with the bonding process.

If your midwife is insistent about the eye ointment, tell her you would like to wait to do it after the first hour. But, IMO, you don't need it.

I had a waterbirth with my DS#2 and he never had eye ointment. And, he smiled at me within the first hours. It was beautiful and I hope the same for you.

Best of luck...

[JaneSmith1010]

Mmm... I had a home waterbirth and didn't do eye ointment or anything else. Haven't read anything that suggests that it is neccessary. The only thing I put in DS's eyes is breastmilk if he looks like he has a little pinkeye.

[pamamidwife]

Originally Posted by Charmie981

OT: Pam, I think we all know now what your particular "midwife crusade" is...LOL! I still have the darn thing in my birth kits; I need to take it off of that list!!

I know! It's so easy to just take them off. I cringe when I hear of unassisted birthers using them! We just have to STOP!

[mwherbs]

BV may have it just about right- the thing with hospitals is that they have in house bacteria- that cover surfaces and all sorts of places-- I would ask if it has been the case that they have some infections that are the reason for eye treatment. even the drinking fountains in hospitals have critters that can be pathologic

[Gunter]

i am merely a volunteer doula at a birth center but we have mostly water births here. like 3 out of 5 births are water births and they do not do eye ointment.

[dctexan]

Thank you so much everyone. After reading all of your posts and trying to do some independent research (the lack of studies on various newborn interventions is just sad), I spoke with DH and both of us are comfortable sticking with our decision to decline antibiotic eye ointment. We agree that there just isn't a good reason to use it unless our babe actually has an infection. I suspect the midwife was just trying to get me to comply (or maybe cover her butt in case the babe does have an eye problem?) because of the state law. Waivers, waivers everywhere - must remember to pack a pen in my hospital bag

[linaee]

Originally Posted by dctexan

Thank you so much everyone. After reading all of your posts and trying to do some independent research (the lack of studies on various newborn interventions is just sad), I spoke with DH and both of us are comfortable sticking with our decision to decline antibiotic eye ointment. We agree that there just isn't a good reason to use it unless our babe actually has an infection. I suspect the midwife was just trying to get me to comply (or maybe cover her butt in case the babe does have an eye problem?) because of the state law. Waivers, waivers everywhere - must remember to pack a pen in my hospital bag

I would advise you to make sure you keep this preference in your birth plan, too, in case your L&D nurse changes (shift change) during labor...if you don't already know, please take an extra copy of your birth plan with you. ....just in case.

Best of luck...

[Maggi315]

I do waterbirths all the time and don't use the ointment. i do carry it, I figure if the baby's eyes seem to be irritated after a day or two or seem infected, then we could always put some in them (a MUCH smaller amount than in the hospitals!).

never heard of increased risk of infection? seems like an opinion,not something backed up with evidence.