Hi,
I'm entering this discussing late as I just worked 12 hours shifts Friday and
Saturday, and am therefore way behind on my email, but I had to comment.
With my first baby, I had ruptured membranes for 26 hours, and labored for
that length of time before having a C-section. Prophylactic antibiotics were
not the standard of care 17 years ago. My son was born 8 lb. 13 oz. with an
APGAR of 8 and 9. Tried to nurse him in the recovery room, but with no
success. Examined in the nursery by his attending pediatrician and given a
clean bill of health. I had planned to room in with him, but he didn't seem
quite right to me, so after trying again to nurse him, I sent him back to the
nursery where he could be watched more closely while I slept. My good
friend, a fellow NICU nurse, had come in to attend my delivery and take care
of the baby and me. She was the one who walked him in his crib down the
hall, where he STOPPED BREATHING. GBS infection can take hold that fast!
Thanks to my friend and the neonatologist in the nursery that morning, he was
resuscitated, placed in a hood with 100% oxygen, and started on antibiotics.
Diagnosis: beta strep pneumonia. He breastfed for the first time at 4 days
of age, on my very engorged breasts, and never looked back. A 36 week
gestation, 4+ lb. little boy born the next day did not survive the same
diagnosis.
Fortunately, I got to take him home on day 5, administering IM penicillin to
him for 5 more days. (Today he would recieve IV antibiotics in the NICU for
10 days.) He is graduating from high school in June and is off to Wagner
College in NYC in the fall. I wish I had received antibiotics in labor and I
thank God every day that they were available for him after his birth.
Dead babies don't breastfeed. Dead babies don't get thrush. (Steven and I
didn't either.) In the situations Gail describes, it is so foolish to take a
chance and refuse the antibiotics. Taking his temperature frequently won't
have predicted his sudden crash.
Just one personal story,
Kim
Kim Block RN, MSN, IBCLC
Overlook Hospital Breastfeeding Support Program
Summit, NJ 07090
(908) 522-BABY
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