About 24 hours after birth other newborn care options come in to play. Here is a brief description of them.
Hepatitis B Vaccine
If you are planning to start the hepatitis vaccine with your newborn the first dose is given in the hospital around 24 hours old. Hepatitis B is contracted through body fluids and unless you are infected or at risk for contracting Hepatitis B your baby is not likely at high risk. It is considered safe by the CDC, but has the risk of side effects as with all vaccines. This is a matter of prayer and decision to be made between your spouse and you.
PKU Screening
The PKU screening is done between 24 and 72 hours old for best results. This is done by pricking the baby's heel to draw blood. This tests for PKU as well as other metabolic disorders. PKU is very serious and needs to be caught early to prevent serious complications or death. You can refuse this screening, however I would not recommend this. The risks of doing a heel stick clearly outweigh the benefits from knowing if your child has a metabolic disorder so you can properly care for their needs.
Circumcision
Circumcision is very controversial in our culture, but is still an option, to be done around 24 hours old by your OB/GYN. This entails removing the foreskin from the penis. It is considered a cosmetic surgery and can be refused. If you do not want your son circumcised, make sure it is clearly marked on your baby's chart.
CCHD
This is a new screening to determine if there is a possibility of congenital heart defects in the baby. This is done by putting a pulse oximeter on two of the baby's extremities to see if the readings are equal. A positive screen would require an echocariogram to follow up.
Hearing Screen
The hearing screen is done by stimulating the ear drum or brain stem to verify there is a response. This is a non-invasive procedure that allows you to know if your baby may have hearing loss.
What are your experiences with these?
Showing posts with label Newborn Care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newborn Care. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
Afterbirth Newborn Care
One of my friends asked me to talk about some of the interventions done with newborns in the hospital after birth. Here is a basic overview of those done in the delivery room.
Cord Clamping
There is much debate about when the cord should be clamped. On the natural side people argue that you should wait for the cord to stop pulsating before cutting. On the medical side you have people saying it doesn't matter when you cut it. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle and dependent on each child. Generally speaking there is no harm in waiting to cut the cord and there could be some harm in cutting to early, though not likely.
The reasons for waiting include increasing the blood supply, increasing levels of vitamin K and helping the circulatory system as it transforms.
This is a matter for you to pray over and discuss with your spouse and provider.
Vitamin K Shot
After birth newborns are given a shot of Vitamin K to help with blood clotting. This is to prevent possible bleeding, especially in the brain that can happen due to birth trauma. Thankfully, this is not very likely, especially in an unassisted birth. There is some evidence to show that if you delay in clamping the cord, there may be less of a need, if any at all for the Vitamin K shot.
This is again a matter to pray over and discuss with your spouse and provider to decide what is best for your baby.
These first two are closely related and should be considered together
Eye Antibiotic
After birth, newborns are given erythromycin ointment in their eyes to prevent infection. The infections that typically cause issues are STDs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, therefore if you do not have a known infection the antibiotics are not necessary.
What are your thoughts on these interventions?
Cord Clamping
There is much debate about when the cord should be clamped. On the natural side people argue that you should wait for the cord to stop pulsating before cutting. On the medical side you have people saying it doesn't matter when you cut it. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle and dependent on each child. Generally speaking there is no harm in waiting to cut the cord and there could be some harm in cutting to early, though not likely.
The reasons for waiting include increasing the blood supply, increasing levels of vitamin K and helping the circulatory system as it transforms.
This is a matter for you to pray over and discuss with your spouse and provider.
Vitamin K Shot
After birth newborns are given a shot of Vitamin K to help with blood clotting. This is to prevent possible bleeding, especially in the brain that can happen due to birth trauma. Thankfully, this is not very likely, especially in an unassisted birth. There is some evidence to show that if you delay in clamping the cord, there may be less of a need, if any at all for the Vitamin K shot.
This is again a matter to pray over and discuss with your spouse and provider to decide what is best for your baby.
These first two are closely related and should be considered together
Eye Antibiotic
After birth, newborns are given erythromycin ointment in their eyes to prevent infection. The infections that typically cause issues are STDs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, therefore if you do not have a known infection the antibiotics are not necessary.
What are your thoughts on these interventions?
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