vitamin K and eye ointment

[mom2asweetie]

One more question for all of you well-informed Mamas! We know we are going to refuse vaccinations when our child is born - but what is the deal with vitamin K shots and eye ointment? Is eye ointment needed if you have a C-section?

Thanks!
Robin (soon to be mommy of two precious boys!)

[alegna]

I refuse both. They eye ointment is ONLY needed in a vaginal birth where mom has syphilis or gonorrhea. If you don't - it's not needed. (I think I have the right two diseases- someone please correct if wrong...)

Vitamin K- what sense does it make that newborns would NEED to be injected with anything?

-Angela

[cj'smommy]

Originally Posted by alegna

Vitamin K- what sense does it make that newborns would NEED to be injected with anything?

-Angela

There are times it is necessary. I'm not thrilled with the fact that my DS needs the Vit K shot BUT since he may have surgery shortly after birth, he needs it. He also does need to be born in the hospital because he will be in the NICU after birth, so oral Vit K is not an option for us.

OP - Are you circ'ing your boys?

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by cj'smommy

There are times it is necessary. I'm not thrilled with the fact that my DS needs the Vit K shot BUT since he may have surgery shortly after birth, he needs it. He also does need to be born in the hospital because he will be in the NICU after birth, so oral Vit K is not an option for us.

OP - Are you circ'ing your boys?

yeah that. and also, what is the harm in vitamin k, other than the prick? not bneing snarky, but is there some risk to vitamin k?

[janasmama]

Well, a prick hurts a baby...definitely not very gentle and I think the overall purpose is for blood hemorrhages in the brain (?). The eye ointment is gooped all over their eyes making whatever vision they have completely distorted and how uncomfortable is it to have thick goop all over your eyes. So, like the pp said, unless you have the two diseases you don't need eye ointment.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by cj'smommy

There are times it is necessary. I'm not thrilled with the fact that my DS needs the Vit K shot BUT since he may have surgery shortly after birth, he needs it. He also does need to be born in the hospital because he will be in the NICU after birth, so oral Vit K is not an option for us.

OP - Are you circ'ing your boys?

There's a time and place for everything And in your case it would make perfect sense if he might need surgery in less than 2 weeks.

But for every newborn?

Senseless.

-Angela

[alegna]

Originally Posted by vbactivist

yeah that. and also, what is the harm in vitamin k, other than the prick? not bneing snarky, but is there some risk to vitamin k?

Yes. If you do a search you can find the product insert that lists, among other things, death as a possible side effect/reaction.

-Angela

[New_Natural_Mom]

We were originally not doing the vit k shot, but there was some head swelling due to his big head not wanting to go past my apparently little pelvic bones. The oral vit k drops won't help with immediate onset bleeding. I felt that it was important to give the shot in case the swelling was indicative of a bleed. My lo is fine. That was a very emotionally difficult decision for me, but it worked out. If you have a completely normal birth with no interventions you would probably be fine, but I am not a doctor and nothing is foolproof.

I lost the fight with my hubby on the eye goop - we got that. It is primarily to address chlamydia and gonnorhea, but there are other bacteria that linger in the birth canal. I think it is stupid to give this automatically b/c all pregnant women (at least in my state) are tested for the diseases during pregnancy and if the babe gets a different eye infection you can treat it then.

Do a search on here for vit k (I know I asked a ?? about it not that long ago in the vax forum.)

[cj'smommy]

Originally Posted by alegna

There's a time and place for everything And in your case it would make perfect sense if he might need surgery in less than 2 weeks.

But for every newborn?

Senseless.

-Angela

Yes, and we won't know until he's born/tests are run when he'll need it. To me taking that chance of not giving it is to great. Brain surgery is risky enough with a newborn due to blood loss, to me that far outweighs any risk from the shot.

I agree, it's not for every newborn BUT I just wanted to point out that there are instances, though rare, where it is needed.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by New_Natural_Mom

I lost the fight with my hubby on the eye goop - we got that. It is primarily to address chlamydia and gonnorhea, but there are other bacteria that linger in the birth canal. I think it is stupid to give this automatically b/c all pregnant women (at least in my state) are tested for the diseases during pregnancy and if the babe gets a different eye infection you can treat it then.

The purpose of the eye goop is only for the two diseases... NOT any other bacteria. This is a falsehood that seems to be being spread.

-Angela

[Turquesa]

Ooooooooooooooo! But you never know. Your Dh could have cheated on you and brought it home and you give it to your baby and you all die a horrible death.....

Sigh. I get so weary of the just-in-case-you-never-know-what-if-be-on-the-safe-side fear-mongering.

[tini1205]

I did a lot of soul (and fact-)searching about both and ended up deciding to have both. We went home right after the birth (same day) and I did not want to worry about her any more than I did anyways (I would have preferred VitK drops, but the shot was the only thing available, and she did not even flinch). We requested to delay the Eye Ointment a few hours, so we could all see each other as clearly as possible - that was not a problem.
We declined the HepB vaccine, no problem there either.

It's a personal decision so don't let yourself be bullied in one direction or the other - just do what feels right.

[mrsfrenchy]

Vit K shots are 20,000x the needed dosage. They are thought to be one of the causes of jaundice and the preservatives in the injection can be harmful (and fatal) to the infant. Also, colostrum is very rich in Vit K, so if you BF right after birth, you are giving your baby Vit K then.

givingbirthnaturally.com has a great section on routine newborn procedures and includes information on when a Vit K injection might be necessary (like in the PP's case above)

[N8'sMom]

Originally Posted by alegna

The purpose of the eye goop is only for the two diseases... NOT any other bacteria. This is a falsehood that seems to be being spread.

-Angela

Yep. :
And correct me if I"m wrong, but I believe Australia doesn't
even do the eye goop at hospitals. The docs over there
don't even mess with it. So why would we?

[paquerette]

The thing that got me was the risk of leukemia. Childhood leukemia is such a frightening thing. I was working at a Hancock Fabrics when I got pregnant and we had promotional materials for the quilt donations/contests for John Hopkins and I remember all the stories and pictures of the kids suffering from that and other illnesses. I can't imagine increasing the risk of that, thinking that everything was fine and then being hit with that years down the road.

I understand that the benefits weight out with necessary surgery or unforeseen trauma, so I'm not talking about that.

[mom2asweetie]

Unfortunately, my baby will be circumsized. It totally freaks me out and I'm not happy about it, but my husband is adamant about it and I'm afraid this battle is not to be won. I wonder if this increases the need for the vitamin K shot? I'm thinking I'll just make sure I eat lots of vitamin K rich foods to be sure baby isn't deficient. The eye ointment seems like overkill since I have no STDs and baby will be delivered by C/S. What do you guys think?

[alegna]

Originally Posted by mom2asweetie

Unfortunately, my baby will be circumsized. It totally freaks me out and I'm not happy about it, but my husband is adamant about it and I'm afraid this battle is not to be won. I wonder if this increases the need for the vitamin K shot? I'm thinking I'll just make sure I eat lots of vitamin K rich foods to be sure baby isn't deficient. The eye ointment seems like overkill since I have no STDs and baby will be delivered by C/S. What do you guys think?

The decision can not me made to circ. without your approval. Be the mama and just say no.

Do not allow your son to be mutilated if you don't want it done.

-Angela

[kltroy]

I just talked to my doc about this the other day. The eye ointment is specifically for chlymmidia (sp?). If you get tested for it in the few weeks before your birth and you're negative, you can refuse. I am planning to refuse the eye ointment, but will go ahead with the vitamin K. I just don't see what the big deal about that one is.

[nashvillemidwife]

Originally Posted by mom2asweetie

I wonder if this increases the need for the vitamin K shot? I'm thinking I'll just make sure I eat lots of vitamin K rich foods to be sure baby isn't deficient.

You cannot adequately raise your baby's vitamin K level to protect him during surgery by supplementing your own diet. If you are going to have him circumcised in the first week (before he can build his own supply), you should look to the shot.

[paquerette]

Originally Posted by mom2asweetie

Unfortunately, my baby will be circumsized. It totally freaks me out and I'm not happy about it, but my husband is adamant about it and I'm afraid this battle is not to be won. I wonder if this increases the need for the vitamin K shot? I'm thinking I'll just make sure I eat lots of vitamin K rich foods to be sure baby isn't deficient. The eye ointment seems like overkill since I have no STDs and baby will be delivered by C/S. What do you guys think?

Please don't give up fighting for your son. You're his mother, his only protection from this atrocity. You will regret it for the rest of his life if you try to buy marital peace with your son's flesh, and the guilt and sadness will likely drive a wedge in that peace anyway. Please come to the Case Against Circumcision board and read the Regretful Mothers sticky to understand the agony that you will be putting yourself through if you allow this.