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Can someone give me info about hepatitis B vaccine. Where I live they give it to the baby right when its born in the hospital is this a good idea or not? i will have the option to chose not to. any other vaccines they give newborns that someone who advise against? any advice please i am clueless
We had the hospital give our daughter her first one in the hospital. I would suggest you call your pediatrician and discuss it with them so you will feel more comfortable about what to do. My ped likes it to be done in the hospital but he doesn't have babies come to the office until they are two weeks old. If you go to the doctor at only a few days old like some of my friends had to do, then maybe they will want to do the first one then. Since it is possible to have a reaction to any vaccine I was glad we did it while at the hospital because I had enough to worry about that way the nurses could watch her in the nursery and I could sleep. I would have been a wreck at home worry about a reaction. But that is just me; I obsess about things like that.
Babies that get the HepB vaccine at birth have to be vaccinated 4 times instead of 3 like those who wait till their first Dr. apt. So they end up getting an extra vaccine. (Your pediatrician can confirm this) IMO I would really weight the risks of your baby contracting HepB between birth and her first Dr. apt (around 2 wks to 2 months) My daughter is 3 months old now and hasn't yet had any vaccinations, I'm delaying them till she is older. In my opinion the HepB vaccine is completly useless unless the parent is at a greater risk. HepB can only be spread through unprotected sex, sharing needles, and possibly (it still has not been proven) through salivia (ie a bite). All in all you need to do what you feel most comfortable with, weight the risks of getting the disease vs. getting the vaccine. Hope this helps.
Heather
I think it's a bad idea. Unless you are a breastfeeding mom who has Hep B or high risk for it, there's no need for your baby to get this. Our Ped. recommended at least waiting one month, we've not done it yet 39 months later.
The point of the hospitals doing it at birth is b/c it's a bit of a captive audience and some of the children will not be seen for regular medical care again. The CDC is just trying to get as much of the population immunized as possible, regardless of the effects on a brand new immune system.