Saying No to Vit K, Hep B, and Eye Ointment at Delivery...

Of course they will give you a hard time, they are medical profesionals. Have you considered home birth? You can DIY at home much more easily than you can at the hospital, and as long as there are law suits, you will be presured to follow standard medical procedures. Expect to sign a lot of release documents refusing medical advice. I went to the hospital with a card saying that I refused amnio, could not check in without it.

Vacines do not cause autism, no matter when they are administerd, you are mistaken about the veracity of what you have read. As a mother of two autisic children, I choose not to put my confidence in research and advice from the learned playboy centerfolds, but do as you wish.

You have a 1 in 150 chance of having a child with autism, and that chance is 1 in 99 if it is a boy. If you want to take control of this risk, do not have children. You cannot prevent this from happening to your child, it may have already happened. All the credible research indicates that it is most likely that autism is genetic, that is why there are so many of us form whom this is a family problem and why we particpate in the genetic studeis for siblings with autism; we are in good, huge company. Frankly, nothing conclusive, sans the identification of genes responsible for some ASD's has come out of any research, but certianly, your statement is not true, and that is news that you should rejoice in.

The good news about that is that you won't have to blame yourself for what you failed to do to prevent autism, or that you did wrong that caused it if you end up walking in the shoes of those of us who have autistic children. Not only that, but you can vacinate your children against the horrible killer deseases that are as much as fogotten today in our society, due to vaccination, because this has not been shown to be a cause any more than anything else you could find that is different about our world than was common years ago.

Walk through any 100 or 200 year old grave yard. The multiple very tiny head stones should give you pause. We live in a time where we expect our children and ourselves to survie birth, childhood, and far into adulthood without any life threatening ordeals. As someone who is into research, why do you think this is the case? Is that good or bad? Should we go back to that very natural expectation that nearly half of all children born to you two centruies ago would die and that you very likely could die during birth too?

You and I and everyone who is alive in our country today has benefited from modern medicine including widespread vacines. Most of us live long lives, and if you really want to come up with a coincidental cause for why some ailments, like autism, are more prevalant now, you must count the enormous variable that the vast majority of all births are live, and infant mortality is very low in this country. I can tell you this, after walking through a historic home very recently, there would be no way for either one of my autistic children to have survived childhood in a home with an open fire. Even if either one of them had survied birth and infancy (they would have died; nursing is a motor skill they could not master because they were autistic when they were born) I would not have been able to perfom the daily domestic work necessary to keep the rest of my family and myself alive, if I were caring for these two children and watching their every move and keeping them safe from the daily hazards of living outside a modern safe world. So take your pick, death as a newborn, death by fire, death because our whole family starved for lack of good domestic practice, but death before anyone could possibly have noticed that they had autism. We live in a time when children like mine live.

There are some real benefits to modernity. That you live in a modern world actually gives you the freedom to reject it. Think about it.

M.

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Vaccines are not needed? I'm guessing my neighbor who is crippled because he had polio as a child would disagree. Have you been tested negative for gonorrhea or chlamydia? Many of these STD's stay silent in women, so unless you have been tested or you and your husband have never had any other partners, you can not be 100% sure. I would say temporary blurred vision from an ointment, beats permanent blindness in a newborn. Our culture is obsessed with vaccines because they prevent death and serious health issues.

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Have the people who do give these things done their research?! It's usually the moms questioning it that do a ton of studying before making their decision, not just going with what someone else says is best. There are choices!

I did vitamin k and eye ointment because I didn't research it first, and even now vitamin k I would probably do. But NO WAY on hep b! I signed the forms before labor and they put it in big letters on my chart. My friend had an emergency c-section and they gave it to her baby while she was out of it, so make sure it's noted ahead of time!

My children have not had any vaccinations to date, I will do tetanus (dt only) at some point, because there is no cure for tetanus. They were exposed to whooping cough by two close relatives, had a fever and runny nose but never got the cough! Even our ped (an MD!) says how healthy my kids are! They eat well, get dirty outside, wash with soap and water, take vitamins and probiotics, elderberry when they have a cold, and are seen regularly (at least once a month) by a chiropractor, more if sick or if they fall. Only one ear infection to date, we did do antibiotics but also chiropractic and she was better in a day.

These are hard choices, but only you can decide what's best for your child and family! My favorite website is www.thedoctorwithin.com, his book is called the sanctity of human blood. Dr sears vaccine book has good information on a delayed or alternate schedule. Good luck!

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My children have always gotten ALL of the recommended vacinnes since birth! I suggest you discuss with your doctor.

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One small thought, as Martha pretty much said everything you need to hear -- consider at least getting the pertussis vaccine. Pertussis is on a comeback, and it kills babies. I have a friend who recently had it, and she's a grown adult and it almost killed her. There are some things in modern medicine we need to be thankful for. Keeping our babies alive and healthy is one thing modern medicine has done very well. I live near a graveyard, and there are many, many turn-of-the-century babies and toddlers buried there. That was before vaccines. Now everybody go read Martha's post again.

And eye ointment isn't done at our hospital anymore. Maybe it's a regional thing.

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We said no to the hep shot and just stated that our pedi would be handling all vaccinations, they didn't give us any trouble at all. We also waited till 1.5 to have any vaccines done and we only do certain ones. The only trick to that is finding a doctor who respects your wishes and that can be difficult. I met with several before I delivered until I found one I really liked. You may search on line, I think Dr. Sears web site has a link for such into. Best of luck!

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Did you steal this from me?!?! :)

I'm 38wks pregnant and have been going back & forth about this too.
I know for a fact NO HEP B for my kids. Vit K i'm not too sure about...
Check out www.drtenpenny.com
She also has a Facebook that is FULL of awesome info on vaccinations and all that.She actually just posted some info on the Vit K shot too.
Oh and on her website she has legal forms you can have printed out to take with you to the hospital that state you DO NOT want Hep B, Vit K etc.

Good Luck!!

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I have 3 girls. None of them have had any of that stuff. The first was born in the hospital. I told them I would not consent to the vitamin K, eye ointment or Hep. B shot. They simply brought me refusal forms and had me sign them. No grief what so ever. The other 2 were homebirths so no problems at all. If they do start to give you a hard time calmly state you have done your research and you will not be persuaded to change your mind and to please bring you the refusal forms to sign. If they try to bully you or threaten you or tell you they will call CPS tell them to go ahead, that the law states you have the right to say no to anything. If they try the tactic of "well the law has changed," tell them you need to see the law book where it states as such.
Also, I do not vaccinate my children. Never had a problem. I live in Texas so they have an exemption form you fill out for school. Your state probably has a similiar form.

L.

P.S. Some of the other responses asked why you would say no to the eye ointment because it prevents infections. The ONLY infections it is for are chlamydia and gonorrhea so if you don't have either of these there is no reason for the ointment.

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We said no and just had to sign a bunch of papers. We were at a free standing birth center with midwives so we got no trouble at all. You might get a bunch of flack at a hospital but it is your right to say no. Stand firm, sign the papers and don't let them bully you. Bring it up before the child is born and ask to sign the papers then if you can. That way they can't wisk the baby away before you have time to speak. With midwifes you may do better than OBs but you never know.

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I said no. No need for Hep B, no need for Vit K no need for the ointment from the research I did. I wrote it down and handed it to the birthing team. They respected my wishes. GL!!

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Just wondering why you would say "no" to those things? Have you done any research that they can be harmful to the baby. There is a lot of research that says that the baby needs these things. Just curious??

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We declined all three of these with our daughter. We told our doc up front and then after delivery (ended up with a c-section) my husband stayed with baby to make sure that our wishes were followed. They didn't give us a hard time at all.

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Go in to your hospital administration before your due date to see if there are any waiver forms you need to fill out to avoid these common practices. If it's in your paperwork ahead of time, you shouldn't have any problem. Hospitals want to insure that if there are any adverse results from deviating from the standard procedures, you will not turn around and blame them for something you requested. Hope you have a great delivery and wonderful time with your new baby!

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I also gave birth with a midwife in a hospital...
We only declined HEP B and no one even blinked or felt to mention anything to us.
I discussed all three with my midwife and she left the decision up to me, which we went with VITK and Eye Ointment.
The eye ointment was given to my baby a few hours after birth (my request) and we were already finished with her first nuring session. Also at my hospital they gave erythromycin, which is not really irritating (I have used it myself before). They used to give sliver nitrate, which stings and burns and can actually cause serious damage if not administered correctly.

I think it's your decision...
I would say talk to your midwife first and you might encounter less resistance than expected.
Good luck!

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The key is to make your birth plan short and sweet. Don't go on and on about why you are choosing to avoid these things, you should sound confident and state that you want the birth to be a wonderful experience for everyone. They don't want to read two pages on why you are opposed to vaxing. Don't make it sound like you are itching for a fight lol. Have your midwife sign off on it, too. Be firm, speak gently (in the written birth plan) and make sure whoever is there with you (midwife, husband, doula) will BACK YOU UP after the birth. Someone should stay with the baby the whole time.

We delayed vaxing. I always opposed pumping all that into their tiny little bodies too soon, so we held off until they were two or so, exclusively breastfeeding for the first 6-9 months, and then into their toddler years, as well. But we did find that moderation is the key with vaccinations, either extreme seemed too, well, extreme. There is a special schedule the CDC puts out specifically for those who delay vaccinating, the kids get far fewer shots, and we always spaced them far apart so if there was a reaction, we would know which one was the culprit. By delaying their immune systems were more mature and able to handle the shots without getting fevers, or sick at all, really. All my kids had chicken pox. We are waiting until they are sexually active for Hep B. Just want you to know there is a comfy middle ground.

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I just had my baby 3 weeks ago and I too thought they were going to give me a hard time. I declined all of them too. When they asked, I just said no and they didn't even act like it was a big deal. They didn't ask why or anything. I was all ready to defend myself when I didn't even need to. I think they are use to so many people now refusing shots and eye ointment. I heard too that the ointment makes the baby's eyes burn for a few days. Oh, and I told them that I wanted the oral vitamin K. She took it just fine.

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My sister works in labor/delivery & it's common for parents to ask for these things. Where she works they respect the parents decision along with a letter signed by the parents.

I also wanted to chime in on your belief that Hep B vacc is connected with autism. My neighbor has 3 boys. The oldest has autism & back then the hype was that vaccines were the cause of them. So when she had her 2nd she didn't have any vaccines done, no autism. So of course she was convinced that the oldest had autism due to the vaccines. So then her 3rd was born & no vaccines were done, well he is now 7 & has autism.

Just remember for every article you read that says autism is linked to vaccines, there will be as many articles that say there is no link.

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I can see saying no to the Hep B, although I didn't even think about it, but why say no to the vitamin K and especially the eye ointment to help avoid eye infections?

Edited: I misunderstood the question. I wasn't trying to talk anyone into doing these things, I just read too fast and thought personal reasons behind the yes or no's of the shots, ect were being asked and got a personal message (not by the poster) 'explaining' things to me. However, I still stand by what I said (for those who were able to read it) because no matter how much research you do, I work in health care and am simply saying that things happen based on personal experience. Shots, no shots, eye drops....it's a personal decision. In regards to the eye ointment, STD's may be the biggest issue and you may not have to worry, but other people touch your baby and can pass seemingly harmless bacteria during normal routine care where gloves are not required to be used. Not the optimal situation and not reasurring, but none the less, it happens. Take it as you will.

I apologize for the misunderstanding.