Anyone not giving newborn Vit. K inj

[MyHipGirls]

Just wondering others opinions on Vit K inj for newborn.

[Larissa]

We won't be doing the vitamin K injection, the vaccine, the antibiotic eye drops, or the newborn bath.

[Past_VNE]

We're in the "absolutely not" camp and have no intention of giving Vit. K.

And, as Larissa mentioned, we'll be declining everything else, too....though there isn't much to decline at a homebirth. Gentle, non-interventive birth and no circumcision makes the Vit. K particularly unnecessary.

[starling&diesel]

No vitamin K for us ... we might consider the oral dose, perhaps. No eye goop either. And as for the bath, we'll (hopefully) be doing a homebirth, so that won't be an issue.

[Devaskyla]

Since I'll be having another unassisted birth, definitely won't be having any of the standard newborn stuff. We turned down Vit K & eye goop for our oldest, too.

I do plan to increase my own Vitamin K intake (with alfalfa & nettles) in the third trimester, though.

[Cherry Alive]

Unless something goes wrong (ex- premature, forceps, etc...), we are not doing the vitamin K. Won't be doing the Hepatitis B shot either. I guess I got to get my birth plan put together.

[Queen of my Castle]

Originally Posted by Red_Lil_Mamma

Unless something goes wrong (ex- premature, forceps, etc...), we are not doing the vitamin K. Won't be doing the Hepatitis B shot either.

Same here, along with no eye ointment, delayed bath, etc. We did this with Evangeline too, at the hospital, but with mw at home this time there's hardly a question.

[northwoods1995]

I'm not sure about Vitamin K yet.

But we absolutely will NOT be allowing hep B again. I also plan to decline the eye ointment again too.

[luv]

Originally Posted by Devaskyla

I do plan to increase my own Vitamin K intake (with alfalfa & nettles) in the third trimester, though.

Ditto. I will consider the injection if there is a tramatic birth (bruising etc) otherwise no.

[Thursday Girl]

nope, unless there is some reason to. I plan on upping my intake of Vit K before baby is born.

[mamamelia]

no vit k unless it is a traumatic birth.
dd1 was vacuumed out and had the vit k shot.
dd2 was born un-assisted and did not have the vit k shot.
we'll see how dc3 goes! we're planning for another UC, but like all plans made, no one knows till they get there.

[mommabear207]

i'd just like to ask why not vit K shot besides that its an shot? and about the eye goop- it is for what? with a hospital birth -particularly c-section- i believe these are routine so how do you get them not to do it (besides saying lets not and hope they don't claim they didn't get the message). is there a way to replace the benefits of these things? i noticed some of you are planning to up vit k intake in the 3rd trimester -how? and i think i read somewhere there is some sort of risk in increased intake (i'm interested in increased intake for dental health too) is there any truth to it? perhaps it was from taking it pill form? i'm not sure. lots of questions thanks

[cagnew]

We are not going to do anything- vit. k, eye drops, vax, circ- either. We haven't told the doctor yet....

mommabear: I am not an expert by any means and I get everything all mixed up, but heres my 2 cents. Vit K is given in case your baby has a vit k deficiency and has blood-clotting problems. I personally don't think it's necessary unless the birth is somehow traumatic and there is a cahce that the baby is going to be bleeding a lot(in which case we will be allowing the vit. k). The eye drops are to "protect" the baby from going blind if the mother has an std (chlamydia and gonorrhea). IF the mother knows she doens't have these things, there is no reason (as far as I know) to have the eye drops. I have also heard that you put a couple drops of your breastmilk in their eyes and it will perform the same function, without being so harsh.....

I feel the same way I think you do- I have no idea how I will know for sure that the hospital won't do these things. I am going to ask for the baby to never leave m y sight but... I don't trust nurses or doctors or hospitals. This is my first try at an informed natural birth and I am not happy with the doctors attitude about the things I want for MY birth. If everything goes normally, my next baby will be born at home where I can control everything. Geez... it makes me so mad. It's MY freakin' body and MY baby.

Sorry... I've just been dealing with this a lot lately.

[Past_VNE]

Crap. I just lost a big post with all my reasons why not. I'll try to come back to this when I have time to start over.

[Larissa]

Actually all babies are born without blood clotting abilities. The blood starts clotting on the 8th day of the baby's life. I do agree that it's not necessary. (unless you intend to circ a son . . . in which case I would have it the vitamin K shot done, or wait until the baby is 8 days old) We don't circ our sons, so the vitamin K was not necessary.

The other reason to consider vitamin K would be in case of a traumatic birth. We actually ended up having the vit. K injection for our 3rd son, because he was wedged and stuck in the birth canal for about 12-15 hours. It was such a traumatic delivery, that after he was born, our midwife, who is supportive of NOT giving the vit K, suggested we have it done. So, in that case we did. However, if it had just been a normal delivery, I would have never had it done.
We didn't do the eye drops, Hep B, or bath. If you refuse the bath(which is not necessary, imo, they won't have a reason to take your baby away). When they bathe the baby, they not only wash away your scent that helps with the bonding, but they also have to put the baby in a warmer for a couple hours afterward to warm them back up. So, we don't do the bath either.

[Anglyn]

My two oldest had vit k and two youngest didnt. The two oldest had jaundice and the two youngest didnt! Unless you have some reason to suspect the baby is bleeding, might have a brain bleed or something, you dont need it. Baby will start producing on his or her own in eight days, as mentioned above. I think it became routine because of routine forcepts and circumcision.

[Cherry Alive]

Originally Posted by mommabear207

i'd just like to ask why not vit K shot besides that its an shot? and about the eye goop- it is for what? with a hospital birth -particularly c-section- i believe these are routine so how do you get them not to do it (besides saying lets not and hope they don't claim they didn't get the message). is there a way to replace the benefits of these things? i noticed some of you are planning to up vit k intake in the 3rd trimester -how? and i think i read somewhere there is some sort of risk in increased intake (i'm interested in increased intake for dental health too) is there any truth to it? perhaps it was from taking it pill form? i'm not sure. lots of questions thanks

The vitamin K shot has been linked with childhood cancers. You can actually administer an oral vitamin if you want to give it to the baby (it's safer).

The eye goop I think is for STDs, but it's just one more stressful thing to do to a newborn who has already just had a scary big change.

Bathing is unnecessary and it just takes more time away between mother and child—as it can drop the baby's temperature and make it so the baby has to stay under a heat lamp. There is also a lot of argument that vernix exists to protect that delicate skin.

Whether or not you are required to have any of the procedures done depends on the state you live in. Most are pretty easy-going about regulations but there are a few (like NY) that require you to get the shots or CPS gets called. The best way to find out is to check your tribal area and then come up with a birth plan that you go over with your OB/birth center/hospital before the kid is born.

Also, it really helps to have a clause that the mother or father are always in the same room as the baby.

[chaoticzenmom]

We didn't do the eye goop last time and we don't vaccinate. Since he was born in the water, there was no need for a bath.
We did do the vit. K shot though because my children are so wild, I was worried about an injury. This time, i'm skipping the vit. k shot, antibiotics and labor and the genetic/pku testing. Luckily I have a midwife who's ok with whatever and I don't have to fight for any of this.

Lisa

[RabbitDancer]

Originally Posted by Queen of my Castle

Same here, along with no eye ointment, delayed bath, etc. We did this with Evangeline too, at the hospital, but with mw at home this time there's hardly a question.

Same with me. With a homebirth, these choices are easy. My midwife doesn't give the vitamin K shot routinely, only if the parents want it or if she thinks there's a good reason to give it (bruising after birth trauma or circumcising a boy right away, for instace). We didn't get it last time nor did we elect to give the eye ointment or start vaccines right away. And I think the baby was at least five days old before we did the newborn screening state health dept. heel prick thing.

[Larissa]

We do hospital birth, but it's easy for us to refuse anything we wish to refuse. In two different hospitals, refusing those standard newborn things was a piece of cake. No one even questioned our choices. I am thankful that it's so easy to refuse them . . . especially when I hear others with nightmare stories about it!