I just got a hand-out from my midwife yesterday on the eye ointment and vitamin K shots that are standard at birth. At my hospital you have to sign forms on admittance saying whether you opt in or opt out of having them. Pretty sure that we'll do vitamin K, but I'm torn on the eye goop.

From the handout, the reason the goop is done is because if you have chlamydia or gonorhea (sp?) it can be passed to your LO at birth and cause blindness. This was the leading cause of blindness in the early 20th century, and so they decided to just do it for ALL babies because so many women don't realize they have an STD. The thing is, I know for sure I don't. I had routine screenings done shortly before pregnancy and tested negative for all STDs including those. If I hadn't been tested I'd probably do it just because better safe than sorry I guess, but I have.

So... why am I letting them put stuff in my kid's eyes to prevent something that she couldn't possibly get?

But, we met our pediatrician last night and I asked her this same question. She said she understood my logic from a personal perspective, but from a community/policy standpoint they recommend ALL babies get it because "better safe than sorry." I understand the policy, but it just doesn't make sense to me if I've been tested. But I still hate going against doctor's recommendations.

So, just curious what others did, and your reasoning?