Pediatrician and Vaccines

I fear a soap box is in my future.

I am a bit hesitant to get on this issue, but I am. Vaccinations. I met with our pediatrician today. I chose a female doctor who came highly recommended as both a great pediatrician and someone open to alternatives. But I needed to meet her in person to make sure she was someone who would respect Nathan and I as parents. I had that appointment today.

I was nervous going in there. Nathan and I have decided to use an alternative vaccination schedule. There are a few reasons. I know the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC insist there is no link between vaccinations and autism. I don't buy it. I understand why vaccinations are important. But when the majority of vaccination-autism studies are funded by pharmaceutical companies... there's too great a conflict of interest. And its the studies that are not being conducted. Try to find studies on unvaccinated kids with autism. Or studies on cases of autism in populations that do not vaccinate like the Amish. {And let me say that while boys are at greater risk... girls are still at great risk.} SO yeah... I'm not convinced there is no link.

But aside from autism... it just seems stupid to overload such tiny little bodies. 10 vaccinations by the age of 12 months. (Go to the CDC website and look at the 2010 vaccination schedule.) That's expecting on awful lot from a tiny little body. And there are other injuries caused by vaccinations besides autism. My chiropractor worked in a toxicology lab while in grad school and saw first hand the massive amounts of injuries caused by vaccinations. And she sees many patients who after being injured be vaccines have turned to more natural alternatives.

The third reason is simply we don't believe in one size fits all medical care. My child may not have the same risk factors as a child living in a drug using family in urban Detroit. My child's risk of contracting Hepatitis B (which is contracted through the mother at birth if she is infected... I am not, through sexual intercourse, or through IV drug use.) I may have talked about this before, but I understand the need for a standard to protect certain populations of babies. But my job is to look at my child's risk factors. I will have them vaccinated at some point, but Nathan and I were vaccinated in high school... which seems like a more appropriate time.

I did research over many months, read a couple books, and tried to evaluate each illness or disease on the vaccination list and decide which ones were a threat to my child. In doing so, I came up with my own vaccination schedule. I took that schedule with me today to present to our pediatrician. To show her respect, I asked for her professional thoughts and for advice in prioritizing the vaccinations as they will be done one at a time. She said the most important thing is that we do vaccinate... so she is happy to support us in doing what she needs to do to make sure that happens. If that means doing them one at a time, spreading them out, and leaving a few out, then she is happy to do that.

And while I think she was initially skeptical when I pulled out my folded vaccination schedule... she completely validated my research in echoing that the vaccines I chose and prioritized were the same she would have chose and prioritized. I think she quickly saw that I did do my own research.

I'm not going to share our particular vaccination schedule because as I said, it shouldn't be one size fits all. But I think it is important that parents educate themselves on what is being injected into their babies and why.

I'll give you an example. The Rotavirus. Do you know anything about it? The vaccine is given at two months. Do you know the most serious complications of the rotavirus? Severe dehydration. Yes... severe dehydration can be life threatening. But if my child is sick and begins vomiting or having diarrhea... I'm going to be on alert for dehydration. And yes, for an infant dehydration likely means a trip to the hospital to be hydrated through IV. But we don't live in a rural area, miles from modern medicine. I can be at the hospital in less than ten minutes. I just don't see a great enough threat to merit a vaccine, especially at two months old. It really doesn't take a genius to do what I've done. It just takes some time and common sense.

I cannot sit back, cross my fingers, and hope for the best. I want to know that we educated ourselves and made an informed decision. I can't say that my child will not end up autistic or end up sick from a illness that we could have vaccinated for. But at least I'll know we tried our best to make an informed decision. In the day and age of the internet and full access to any information you could possibly want to know... ignorance is not an excuse.

There we have it folks. My little soap box for the day. I hope I did not offend anyone. My intention is only to inspire other parents to be proactive and educated. If you educate yourself and decide full vaccination is right for your family... great! That's what it is about... making educated decisions.