Has anyone decided not to give their child the eye drops, Vitamin K shot, and Hepatitis B shots? If so, why?

Question

I've done my research on everything as much as possible. I want to be an active parent and know what's being done to my baby and why. I'm definitely planning on putting these procedures off for at least the first hour after birth, but I'm curious if anyone out there went without them all together. And, of course, the reasoning behind it. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Really? How so?

All of these procedures are voluntary.
And I never said I *didn't* plan on getting the shots. I see nothing wrong with being as educated about them as possible. I'm not just going to give something to my baby for no reason. That's just silly.

Answer 1

I elected not to give my DD the vitamin K shot and the Hep B shot in the hospital. The main reason for the vitamin K shot is to start the clotting of the blodd, if you are breastfeeding the vitamens in the colustrum(what you have before your milk comes in) has natural vitamins that help with this process. I basically did not see why this was needed.

We waited until our first well baby visit to get the Hep B shot. If you or the father do not not have hep b there is no reason to give it right after birth. It is not mandatory it is just routine, you can elect not give it to your child or not, just like you have the right to claim exemptions on not giving your child any vaccine. We mainly decided to wait becuase I did not feel it was right to anything more that what was needed after birth since they are so young and I did not want her body overwhelmed.

Also what many people do not know is they never have to leave your sight. You can make the hospital staff clean the baby in the delivery room. It is not any harder for them to bring the cleaning stuff into the room and do it there, there is no reason for them to go to the nursery. That was the thing that annoyed me the most about the hospital staff, they didn't seem to get the fact that I did not want to be seperated from my DD.

Answer 2

I was not going to give my baby anything at all. We did however decide to give him the Vit K shot because he got stuck in the birth canal (I pushed for 9 hours) and had to be delivered by c-section and the docs scared us by saying that he had an increased risk for a brain bleed. I regret that decision now that I was able to do some research.

We did not do Hep B, we simply saw no reason for it. I have never even met anyone with Hep B.

As for the eye drops - they are not necessary. They are given to prevent infection, especially from STDs that can blind the baby as it passes through the birth canal, but if you are clean (no STD's) they are really not necessary. Also, if you have a c-section for some reason they are really unnecessary but some hospitals do it anyway. They cause blurred vision in the baby for several hours which has a big potential to hinder bonding, especially if you have had an epidural because that can make babies groggy on top of the blurred vision.

Good Luck and congrats!

Answer 3

Yes, I forgo them all together.

Vitamin K - Not necessary unless it was a traumatic birth. You can give baby oral vitamin k or begin taking alfalfa tablets in the last months of pregnancy and the vitk in your breast milk greatly increases. The Vitamin K shot has been very strongly linked to childhood leukemia.

The eye drops- They are in case mother has gonorrhea or chlamydia. If you have been tested and do not have those, then they are not necessary.

HepB - Newborns are not a risk group for HepB unless mother is infected. It contains questionable ingredients, like aluminum hydroxide, and is not tested for carcinogenic or teratogenic properties, or effects on fertility.

Answer 4

My son got the eye ointment only because I was group b strep positive

He only got the Vitamin K vaccine because I had a fairly traumatic birth.

I did not give him the hepatitis b vaccine. I don't have it and no one he will be around has it so he has virtually no risk of contracting it as a baby. Hepatitis B is usually contracted through sex and IV drug use.

Answer 5

if you have done research, i'm sure you already know why the infant is given these as soon as they're born

eye drops are for prevention of conjunctivitis, as they pass through the vagina ( in normal delivery).

presence of microorganisms that may cause conjunctivitis (eg. neiserria, chlamydia) may be found in the mother's vagina.

the presence of these microorganisms are not routinely tested during prenatal visits

vitamin K shot is given since the baby cannot make their own vitamin K yet, since their intestines are still immature, and the normal flora is not yet enough to make vitamin K. besides, the milk (both breastfeed and formula) does not contain enough vitamin K.

the important thing for vitamin K is that it can prevent bleeding tendencies in the baby.

lastly your hepatitis B shots...
it is known that hepatitis B can cause liver cancer. if received by a child from a mother (who also didn't have hepatitis B shots), chances that the baby can get liver cancer is high.

hepatitis B is a virus transmitted only by blood transfusion (including sharing needles during illegal drug sessions), sexual intercourse, and passage from mother to baby....

with all these information, I hope you would opt to give your child the best of health

Answer 6

Though I honestly can't say anything about the Vitamin K and antibiotic eyedrops, I can say with certainty that I wouldn't give my child the Hep B vaccine. I really don't even understand why it's standard. I never received it as a baby, and I've never received it as an adult. I work in the emergency room and when i was hired on, it was offered, but most definitely not required. Hep B is pretty rare in adults (who engage in safe sex and do not do IV drugs), and I can't imagine an infant engaging in those behaviors, so...

Answer 7

Everybody says their baby isn't at risk for Hep B but it's just not true. Yes they aren't IV drug users or engaging in sex but they do come into contact with needles. If your baby gets sick and needs a visit to the ER there could be blood and needles left behind or missed during cleaning. I work in ER and have seen it. For Amanda who also works there and refused the Hep B shot I hope you never get stuck with a dirty needle. It happens a lot more then you think and HIV isn't the virus you're most likely to get, it's Hepatitis. No hospital in the US will use a dirty needle on a patient but are you willing to take that risk?

Answer 8

hi well my husband and i researched about all shots after givin or son his first 5 and decided hes not getting anymore go to www.mercola.com they tell u health risk on them and were not giving our son anymore because my son almost died he had an allergic reaction to one of them and also my sister inlaws 3 kids have no shots there 1 , 3 , and 4 and there heathly little girls doing well in school and never get sick . they dont give shots because of doing research also

Answer 9

The dangers of not giving them are way more serious than giving them.

Answer 10

i was told before i delivered i had no choice in this it had to be done by law. dont be stupid and risk your babys health get the dang shots and stuff they are important.