Mother Talkers

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  • I had so hoped it was getting better. (0 / 0)

    I thought it was horrible 17 years ago when the nurse and supposed "lactation" support person came into the room I was briefly sharing with another young woman and told her the same....and that her newborn, six pound baby would only need to nurse every four hours!

    I'm not sold on the whole Strep B thing, either.  I had several children before anyone even heard of it, and honestly, I know of no one who ever heard of a newborn baby being infected.  And even when it first was becoming recognized, babies were not given anti-biotics, they were just observed for signs of infection.  In fact, when my 17 year old son was born, I supposedly had the strep b...and I asked about taking him home on a dose of antibiotics and was told that it was totally unnecessary and that it was not shown to prevent an infection.  I was also told that the chances of a baby getting this infection, even though the mother was carrying it, were very, very slim...less than one percent, I believe, and of that one percent, few developed serious consequences.  

    by tjb22 on Sun Oct 28, 2007 at 11:49:08 AM PDT

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    • IV antibiotics for mom good (0 / 0)

      From what I know of the research, IV antibiotics for mom are good at preventing transmission to baby.  It's not a common infection, by any means, but certainly caused (preventable) death for a small number of newborns.  In WA state midwives can give IV antibiotics at home births for Group B strep positive women, which I think is great.

      by Anu on Mon Oct 29, 2007 at 07:50:05 AM PDT

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      • Well, considering I had (0 / 0)

        him about 10 minutes after arriving at the hospital and pretty much delivered him myself, that wouldn't have helped!  

        Doctors were not testing mothers for this at this time...it was actually after he was born and I was ready to take him home in the morning (after about a 8 hour hospital stay)that it was mentioned.  I asked about giving him a round of antibiotics, and they told me it was unnecessary and would probably be ineffective in preventing him from getting sick.  I was told to watch him for fever or other signs of illness and to take him to our family doctor the next day.  I followed those instructions, but you know, as I sat there with a day old baby in the doctor's office, I thought how crazy this was...I was exposing my newborn, who in all probability was completely healthy, to God knows what...

        by tjb22 on Mon Oct 29, 2007 at 09:43:08 AM PDT

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      • I was fine with me getting them (0 / 0)

        especially since my water broke about 6 hours before labor was induced, I was glad they started them as soon as I got to the hospital.  (Right after my water broke.)  It gave me piece of mind to know that infection would be highly unlikely, I just wished that mattered on the post-partum end of things.  The whole point to dealing with the IV and the subsequent nuking of my intestinal flora was for my daughter to be safe.  Which she was.  

         

        http://www.tacomamama.com

        by jenyum on Tue Oct 30, 2007 at 11:48:48 AM PDT

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