for this post. She asked me if my baby would have the antibiotics they put in the baby's eyes as soon as they are born. She was concerned when I told her that no, she would not. She inquired about the law, and I said the law states that those who are licensed to distribute medicine in the state of Ga are required to administer the antibiotics. As my midwife is not licensed to administer medicine she is not held to that law, but you still have the right to refuse to allow the antibiotic treatment, law or not. I then informed her of how we should not be giving all babies the ointment to begin with. It started out, as most things do, to help babies keep from getting eye infections and going blind. The problem is, we have tests now that inform us if our babies actually need the ointment and they are done at the primary prenatal appointments. Your baby ONLY needs the ointment IF the mother has gonorrhea or chlamydia. If the mother has one of those STD's it's safer to administer the antibiotic ointment then risk the child getting the STD through the eyes. However, if the mother does not have it, the antibiotic does nothing but lower it's response to the antibiotic the next time they may need it and hinder the bonding process as the baby can see perfectly for only a short time after birth before their vision goes blurry. This bonding time should be encouraged and not countered by putting something in their eyes that will make it hard for them to see, and therefore bond with their mom's and dad's...
So that's my natural post of today :)
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