I plan to do the GBS screen. It isn't perfect, but everyone knows that, so they usually treat the results accordingly. (And it isn't *that* unreliable. My understanding of the available data is that if you screen positive at 36 weeks, there's a very solid chance you'll still be positive at the birth, and vice versa.)
I had suspected chorioamnionitis in labour with DS and we both got broad spectrum abx up the wazoo for days. We did end up with thrush, and honestly, it was a pain, but it wasn't insurmountable. A septic baby, on the other hand, while far less likely, is incredibly bad. That's a situation that can go south very, very quickly. My personal risk-benefit calculation on this one is that the severity is so big that it dominates the low probability. Others may (and clearly do) disagree.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
carriede
Any other thoughts on the article I posted? I'm curious to know what you all think about declining the Vit K shot and the eye ointment also.
The article is your standard list of crunchy birth choices. I agree with some, disagree with others. For example, I agree on declining internal exams as much as possible (certainly prior to labour), avoiding stripping membranes, and avoiding induction in many cases (though not all.)
However, I think it's important to have a clear sense of what you are declining, and why. Just because it's on the standard crunchy list of things to decline doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong for me, if you know what I mean.
For example, take eye goop. Although I am very confident that I have neither gonorrhea nor chlamydia (for one, I had those screening tests at the beginning of pregnancy as per public health norms here, and for two, DH and I have been together for 10 years now, I haven't been with anyone else, and I'm as sure as I can be that he hasn't either) it's one of those things where it isn't possible to have, as the author put it, "zero risk." The risk may be small, but it's there. Test results can be wrong. People whom you never thought might cheat, do. Plus, on this one, in some places, it is such a massive pain to refuse it due to legal requirements. And the downsides of the treatment are incredibly low. Wow, a newborn with slightly blurrier vision for a short period of time, imagine that.
Note: My view here is influenced by the fact that, in retrospect, I think I declined some things during DS' birth just to exert some control. I was overcompensating for the fact that I was accepting some other things that I didn't want (namely, an induction.) In doing so, I think I ended up making things go worse than they had to.