Declined antibiotic for Group B & regretted it?

[clothdiapercrunchy]

Originally Posted by mmeneely If a mom or baby tests positive for illegal drugs, you are darn straight the authorities should be taking the baby or child away. If a mother cannot take care of herself, why should she be given ANY opportunity to even try to take care of another? Pregnancy is a PRIVILEGE, not a right.

I am a nurse at a detox and we have a facility on the campus where women who were users and pregnant or who have children live with their children. They come to detox, we detox them, they go to the women's and children's facility. It's a nice alternative to just taking the baby or children away because as much as we want to believe that that is the BEST thing, putting a baby into the CPS system is not always so awesome. Just because someone does drugs doesn't make them a horrible person. Alot of the times women on drugs have no idea they are even pregnant and by the time they find out it would be detrimental to the pregnancy to just quit cold turkey. They are people too, alot of times people who have been brutalized, beaten, raped, or abused and turn to drugs. We are so quick to judge these women but at the end of the day, they are people with feelings and CAN BE good parents if given the appropriate resources and guidance. I have seen the success stories and while I know not every one of these women can or want to be helped and therefore CPS is necessary, taking the kids away every.single.time. is not always the answer. Just speaking from personal experience of working directly with that population.

[~happy2Bamommy~]

I declined. No regret.

Originally Posted by redlichen Anyone know a brand for infant probiotics. If nursing goes well & bottles are nit needed or used in the very beginnjng, how do you get them into the baby?

I have never actually seen one for infants. I use the adult strength "Flora FOrce" by Nature's Sunshine. Open capsule,mix with a little breast milk and then use eye dropper and place mixture inside babies cheek.

Originally Posted by clothdiapercrunchy you can use chlorhexidine vaginally (Hibiclens). That is what homebirth midwives use here.

I used this with three different births. I was GBS positive with one and didn't bother testing with the others after learning how faulty the test can be and how results can be positive one day,negative a week (or days) later. I never want to be lulled into a false sense of security with a negative test. I will now act with every birth as if I am positive. This will mean I use Hibiclens, Probiotics, and garlic. I limit internal checks etc. I closely monitor infant for the first 4 days of life (big thing is to keep watch on temp)

[Mom2evie]

I'm not trying to be snarky but I really don't know why anyone would decline antibiotics if it's KNOWN to possibly have an adverse outcome??!! I am a labor & delivery nurse and also have worked post partum and newborn nursery and have seen some sick babies before due to lack of antibiotics - it just seems a little selfish to me.

[newmommy13]

Originally Posted by clothdiapercrunchy I am a nurse at a detox and we have a facility on the campus where women who were users and pregnant or who have children live with their children. They come to detox, we detox them, they go to the women's and children's facility. It's a nice alternative to just taking the baby or children away because as much as we want to believe that that is the BEST thing, putting a baby into the CPS system is not always so awesome. Just because someone does drugs doesn't make them a horrible person. Alot of the times women on drugs have no idea they are even pregnant and by the time they find out it would be detrimental to the pregnancy to just quit cold turkey. They are people too, alot of times people who have been brutalized, beaten, raped, or abused and turn to drugs. We are so quick to judge these women but at the end of the day, they are people with feelings and CAN BE good parents if given the appropriate resources and guidance. I have seen the success stories and while I know not every one of these women can or want to be helped and therefore CPS is necessary, taking the kids away every.single.time. is not always the answer. Just speaking from personal experience of working directly with that population.

Truth.

[Kiliki]

Originally Posted by Mom2evie I'm not trying to be snarky but I really don't know why anyone would decline antibiotics if it's KNOWN to possibly have an adverse outcome??!! I am a labor & delivery nurse and also have worked post partum and newborn nursery and have seen some sick babies before due to lack of antibiotics - it just seems a little selfish to me.

We had horrible, awful thrush for over a yr due to 3 rounds of IV abx for GBS. My DD STILL has yeast issues. I don't think her immune system ever completely recovered.

I'd rather take the SMALL - very small - chance that my baby *MIGHT* have a complication from a bacteria that may or may not be there at the time of birth, than to pump myself and my baby full of IV abx.

Abx are great when necessary. They can kill some pretty seriously nasty stuff. But giving them too often and too much is bad news. It's bad b/c it makes some bacteria become resistant (and that is VERY scary), and it's not good for anyone's body to be completely void of all bacteria - good and bad.

There are also plenty of other ways to deal with GBS. Abx is just what is routinely used b/c it's easy for docs to get and b/c Big Pharma won't endorse anything that doesn't make Big $$, and insuance companies won't "allow" anything that is not endorsed by Big Pharma. There isn't much money to be made off garlic, hibiclens, probiotics, and a healthy diet.

The risks simply don't outweigh the benefits, IMO. Thankfully, every woman gets to make her own choice. And I certainly don't fault a woman for choosing the abx. It's just not what I PERSONALLY choose.

[redlichen]

How is this Hibiclens used? It looks like it is just soap. Does mother just wash her genitals with it, for how long?

[Kiliki]

Originally Posted by redlichen How is this Hibiclens used? It looks like it is just soap. Does mother just wash her genitals with it, for how long?

AFAIK - and I've never had to do this, so I am going strictly off memory here - you wash with it while in labor ever hour or something, and it kills the GBS bacteria. You might even do a flush of the vagina with it... ?? Not precisely sure. But yes, it is used to wash. Far less invasive than IV abx.

[redlichen]

I don't see how not wanting to have your baby react adversely to antibiotics, or to ensure that they are also receiving beneficial bacteria by declining the IV antibiotics is selfish.

However, I know that overuse of antibiotics as a society is causing nasty super-bugs but abstaining from them feels the same as turning off the water while brushing your teeth -feels like a small thing to do in the grand scope of it all. Is avoiding them really going to make a difference?

There is just too much information out there these days -it is paralyzing.

[amb2j]

I have never actually seen one for infants. I use the adult strength "Flora FOrce" by Nature's Sunshine. Open capsule,mix with a little breast milk and then use eye dropper and place mixture inside babies cheek.

For how long do you use the flora force?


Im loving this thread! Ive recently been really been thinking about IV antibiotics this time around. I had them with DS, but wanted to know if there were other options. DS has had some health issues for the first few years and is just now turning a corner. Im not sure if this is due to IV antibiotics, but just wanted to make sure this baby has the healthiest start.

[Ellasundies]

Originally Posted by Mom2evie I'm not trying to be snarky but I really don't know why anyone would decline antibiotics if it's KNOWN to possibly have an adverse outcome??!! I am a labor & delivery nurse and also have worked post partum and newborn nursery and have seen some sick babies before due to lack of antibiotics - it just seems a little selfish to me.

And there are sick babies whose Mom's got the antibiotics because of the antibiotics. There are also dead babies irregardless (because??) of the antibiotics.

This is one of the biggest problems with maternity care in this country. We have things that are routinely done by practitioners and if a women's needs/educated desires don't fit into those routines then she is labeled 'selfish' or 'ignorant' or whatever other bad name.

A woman is not 'selfish' because she chooses a treatment option other then what the hospital does on a regular basis.

Sorry I'm stepping off my soap box now.