Wanna hear a story about what it's like to
refuse the Hepatitis B vaccine for your 2
hour old infant newborn baby child? I'm Forrest
Maready and this is my incredible opinion.
I wanted to do a follow up to my piece about
the first vaccination you can take off your
newborn baby's to do list- the Hepatitis B
shot. If you didn't watch that video already,
find it- it's episode 03 and hopefully I'll
be able to talk you out of subjecting your
healthy baby to that completely unnecessary
vaccine (assuming you're not a crack whore
or prostitute, and no I'm not judging). A
mother got in touch with me and told me about
her Hepatitis B experience and I just have
to share this with you.
I made it pretty clear that the nurses would
come grab your infant newborn baby child and
give them the Hepatitis B shot if you weren't
careful, but after talking to someone today,
I'm going to double, no make that triple down,
on what it takes for a new mother to escape
a hospital with their newborn completely intact.
This story was just too insane for me to not mention.
The Mom I spoke to today had her third child
in the hallway on a gurney in the hospital.
No pain meds, nothing. It was midnight, the
doctor had been paged, but didn't get there
fast enough. It was an unassisted, unmediated
birth. The mom's husband was out of the country,
so during the labor and afterwards, she had
either her mother or father with her for support.
This mom knew the drill, and despite having
just given birth on a hospital gurney in the
hallway and it being 2am in the morning, she
was ready. The nurse comes in and says she
needs to take the baby for a bath. The mother
politely declined and said "Formaldehyde soap
bath for my newborn? I'll pass, thanks!"
A few minutes later, another nurse
comes in with a more direct approach and says
they need to take the baby to get his Hepatitis
B shot. The mother politely declined, and
said she didn't want that for her child. A
little while later another nurse comes in,
and offers to take the baby away for some
hearing tests or other things they need to
do in the nursery. The mother, obviously aware
of what was going on, declined and said "No
thanks." She knew that some nurses will jab
your baby without a care in the world, no
matter what you told them to, and she knew
to not let the baby out of her sight. At this
point, the nurses were beginning to get agitated
with the uncooperative mom, and sent in a
4th nurse, the head nurse to try and sway
her. Again, no luck. You can imagine at this
point the mom, no sleep, exhausted, is tired
of this game. The nurses have all got out
their claws now and aren't going to be much
help. At about 6am, she alerts the hospital
staff that she is ready to leave.
They tell her that the hospital can not discharge
her and the baby without the pediatrician
"releasing them"- nothing nefarious there.
Standard practice. So she waits for him to
show up, knowing it's going to be more fighting.
And it is. "Why aren't you getting the Hepatitis
B shot for your baby? You know what can happen
to him?" the doctor asks. She's done her research
"My 5 hour-old baby is not shooting up crack
and isn't having high-risk sexual contact
with anyone so I have zero desire for him
to get the Hepatitis B vaccine." The doctor
is extremely unhappy with her refusal to comply
with his demands. He doubles down. "You know
I think we should put your baby in a 48 hour
hold here in the nursery, make sure he's not
coming down with sepsis." "What's the matter,"
she asks. "What are you seeing that makes
you concerned?" "Well there are signs we look
for you might not pick up on. We should keep
him and make sure he's OK."
If you're not already throwing the remote
at the screen, you should. The doctor, like the nurses,
is not happy with the mom's unwillingness
to comply with their demands, so they respond
aggressively. Not out of concern for the child, but with a personal vendetta. Some of you
medical professionals are going to ask, what about her Group B Strep test? Maybe that was
positive and that's why he wanted put a hold
on the baby? This mom had declined the test
during her pregnancy, because she wasn't going
to do those particular antibiotics anyway,
so it wasn't the Group B Strep thing.
She lets the doctor know that she's not leaving
her child in the hospital nursery, ever, or
for 5 minutes, and that she's leaving as soon
as they have her paperwork. So the pediatrician
calls in the hospital social worker to "take
a look at the troubled mother." The social
worker comes in for an interview and begins
to ask questions about not only the Hepatitis
B vaccine but all of her kids & their vaccination status.
in general. Social worker: "Are all your kids
unvaccinated?" "Yes" "How do they go to school?"
"A religious exemption." Social worker: "Well
what religion are you?" Mom: "I have no desire
to discuss my religious preferences with you."
The social worker loses her mind. "You can
leave if you want, but we can keep your baby
if we want." The mom has done the research,
and knows the law. "No. You can't. I'm leaving,
and I'm taking my baby with me."
Now I should say at this point, this 3rd time mother doesn't look anything like an IV drug user or
prostitute stereotype. No meth mouth and she's not chuggingdiet Cherry Mountain Dew like there's no tomorrow.
So she's not asking for any of this, other
than her refusal to let them "take her baby
away for a few minutes". Other than her refusal
to let them inject her newborn baby with a
completely useless vaccine designed for drug-addicts
and crack-whores.
The mom calls her pediatrician's office at
8am and has them fax over her negative Hepatitis
B test results for good measure. I'm sure
the hospital staff was impressed. 4 hours
later, around noon, the mom finally gets her
paperwork, which contains this beautiful form,
indicating that by leaving the hospital, she
is acknowledging the risks, which are Sepsis
(overwhelming infection), Bleeding (internal),
Death, Respiratory distress. All because she
didn't want her 4 hour old infant to get a
drug-user's shot. This is insane. They are
trying to terrify her into submission with
this ridiculous form saying she's risking
her child's life by leaving the hospital without
getting a Hepatitis B shot. If you don't realize
this is insane, please hear me. This is insane.
This is a vaccine that was designed for people
at high-risk of Hepatitis B. She was tested.
She was negative. She was at zero risk for
Hepatitis B. But when you're a hammer, everything
is a nail, and so if you've got a vaccine
approved for use, then why not make everyone
a criminal who doesn't want it for their babies?
What does that sound like to you? Communist
China, or North Korea- I can't quite make
up my mind. As far as I know, neither of those
countries treat infants or their mothers like
that. You know what, that sounds like the
United States of America to me. Seriously.
It sounds exactly like it. Are you OK with
this? Can you just shake your heard and roll
your eyes at that? I can't. I can't do nothing.
So the mom is released (probably had to go
track down a wheelchair herself), gets home
and besides the yellow ribbon tied around
the old oak tree, there are 2 social workers,
waiting for her in the driveway. Yep. She
lives 5 minutes away from the hospital, and
they'd been called ahead of time, and were
there waiting for her. A case had been opened
up to investigate the mother. The social worker,
who was evidently a closeted anti-vaxxer herself,
let the mom know that people at the hospital
had called her agency 5 times, requesting
that they should remove the baby from the
home for it's protection. She had to direct
the hospital to her supervisor they were so
insistent she remove the child. The mother
asked the social workers into her home, they
sat down for an interview and left. They came
back once a week for the next 9 weeks, and
even visited her oldest son at his public
school to make sure he was OK. The mom finally
was able to get her case closed by getting
a new pediatrician who wrote them a letter
letting Child Protective Services know that
she was a fit mother, and that all of her
children were completely healthy. I can't
help but mention this little detail- that's
semi-related. The mother got her EOB- you
know, the Explanation of Benefits statement
from her insurance company for the childbirth,
and guess what item was on her statement that
they had reimbursed the hospital for? $3000
for a 48 hour nursery hold on her infant.
She had been threatened with it, she refused
it, and they billed her insurance for it anyway.
And the insurance company would have never
known had this mother not called them and
let them know they were being duped. She wasn't
having to pay it, but she was understandably
ticked off, and she let them know. Was it
an honest mistake? Who knows- maybe the hospital
provides a doctor "incentive" on 48-hour nursery
holds? I bet there won't be a brochure for
that one.
Anyway, I just wanted you expecting mothers
and/or fathers (who am I to judge? I mean
we can do that now right? We have the technology,
don’t we?) I want you to understand what
is going on in some hospitals across Central
North America. You need to prepare yourself
for this. This mother is an absolute gem,
gold-standard when it comes to protecting
her children from harm. She's well researched,
she's unafraid, and she won't back down even
when nurses, 4 nurses, a doctor and the social
worker are threatening her for not allowing
them to take control of her child. I wish
all mothers could be this strong, this brave.
But I know everyone's not like that- especially
if you have a difficult labor, exhausted,
on some pain meds, and just wanting some sleep
(or some more of that crunchy ice- so delicious).
Everybody wear matching T-shirts, they're
intimidating. Talk with your husband about
this decision and make sure he is behind you
100%. He may fold under the pressure if he's
not completely on board. Talk with the hospital
ahead of time if possible. Find out from other
mothers how their Hep B refusal went. Everyone
must understand what is at stake here. Tell
them this story- tell them what is going to
happen, and that you do not want your baby
to leave the room for any reason. That you
don't want your baby to have whichever procedures
you've decided against. Let them know what
you're OK with, but they must be done in the
room, where everyone can see them. This is
your child. This is not a prison camp. Repeat
these words to yourself. This is my child.
This is not a prison camp.
If you are making an informed decision to
skip the Hepatitis B vaccine for your child
(and you should), get ready. You might have
a battle on your hands. But you can do it.
And that is my incredible opinion.
