Did you allow the hospital to put eye drops in your babys eyes right after birth. Is this really necessary?
-
Honestly, I have no idea why they do it but yes I did let them. I feel like they do things for a reason and they're not going to do something that's harmful to LO.
-
I let them do it because the midwife recommended it. I think it protects against the effects of an STD on the baby's eyes. They said even though I don't have any STDs, there is no down side to doing it since the side effects are so minimal.0
-
Thanks for the responses and keep the coming!
-
So, it would be great if someone with more medical knowledge could weigh in, but here's my understanding:
- Chlamydial and gonococcal conjunctivitis are what everyone thinks the drops are for... but these aren't the only causes of newborn conjunctivitis. Plenty of other (non-sexually-transmitted-infection-related) bacteria (staph aureus, strep pneumoniae, strep viridans, etc.) can cause (usually milder) forms of newborn conjunctivitis, and erythromycin drops are effective prophylaxis for these other bacteria too, not just STIs.
- We used to use silver nitrate, which can be irritating to newborns; with the switch to erythromycin in the eye drops, there's really very little risk of eye irritation or other side effects. (Other than some blurry vision)
So basically my thinking was that - even if I felt really good about my probability of not-having-an-STI- the drops could be helpful. And there were really no notable disadvantages. So we went ahead with it. -
I love this post, DH and I are currently writing our birth plan, and our doula brought up the questin "do you want them to put the drops in?" I didn't know about it or that it was a choice. Keep the posts coming ladies!
-
Exactly what @Lozza said.
-
After our research, no disadvantages, so we were fine with it. My only requirement was to wait to put them in until after I held him for a few minutes and tried to nurse. They put them in when he was weighed and cleaned up.
-
It's required by law in New York State--but we can delay the procedure for an hour or so.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
8 comments