Homeoprophylaxis instead of vaccination?

migdala

I'M SORRY to start a new thread but I'm at the end of my rope.  My MIL told us this morning she is planning on doing something called homeoprophylaxis for pertussis instead of vaccinating, because she is against vaccines.  (I had previously told her she couldn't see the baby unless she got her TDAP booster and it's been nonstop drama since.)  I tried researching this morning and everything I'm finding is from anti-vaxxer websites and is completely biased.  I want to nip this in the bud if I can... anyone know anything about homeoprophylaxis that I can provide to her as an explanation of why it's not good enough?

wittyacronym

Lol...homeoprophylaxis. 

My advice? Don't argue with fools, from a distance one cannot tell one from the other. Just say in order to visit MY child you must show me documentation of an up to date Tdap and end the conversation. 

Good luck! 



*now waiting for the resident anti-vaxxers to show up and roast me for my opinion while posting no real evidence for homeoprophylaxis*

jessafishy

I agree with @wittyacronym. This is YOUR child. You get to make the rules, not her. She needs a Tdap and needs to show you proof before she can see the baby.

migdala

Thanks @wittyacronym and @jessafishy, I have a feeling I'm going to have to end up putting my foot down and stop trying to fight lunacy with reason.  It just sucks because it's really hard on DH

emwj10187

totally agree with everyone here^^ . Don't let your MIL bully you into something you're not comfortable with in regards to the health and safety of your new born. not cool. Stand strong!

ForwardnBackward

Your child. Your rules. She can visit after LO is 2 months and starts the series or after LO finished depending on how strict you wanna be.

Alternatively she can get pertussis titers to (not) prove immunity to you after her homeoprophylaxis (doesnt work).

migdala

@ForwardnBackward YOU ARE A GENIUS, I didn't know they could test for immunity like that.  That's wonderful.  Thank you so much!!!!

And for anyone else who has a similarly crazy MIL, I just spent like 2 hours digging through the internet looking for helpful articles.  I'm putting them below in case anyone needs them (copied and pasted from the email I just sent DH).

Scientific Articles

·         https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmsctech/45/4502.htm - UK Science & Technology Committee report finding homeopathic vaccinations no better than placebos.

·         https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/cam02a_information_paper.pdf - Australian National Health and Medical Research Council report finding no reliable evidence that homeopathy is effective.

·         https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4443832/ - 2015 scientific article in Paediatric Child Health analyzing studies to date, comparing to vaccination studies, and concluding that there is no scientific or medical evidence that homeoprophylaxis is effective in preventing infectious disease.  

 

“Anecdata”

·         https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3272604/Woman-claimed-cure-whooping-cough-homeopathic-vaccines-fined-138-000-banned-selling-misleading-alternative-medicine.html - Australian homeopath peddling homeoprophylaxis fined $138,000 after 32-day-old baby dies from whooping cough

·         https://www.kidspot.com.au/fact-a-homeopath-cannot-vaccinate-your-baby-or-you/ - Explains that homeoprophylaxis is the idea that “nosodes” can be used in place of vaccinations.  Nosodes consist of bodily tissues/fluids taken from sick patients and then diluted so much that often no active ingredient remains.  The diluted mixture is then taken orally.   There is no evidence that it does anything.

VLillyV

@migdala I have nothing useful to contribute that the wonderful ladies above already have, but girl! Hang in there. Your baby, your rules. DH would be much more upset if something were to happen to LO (heaven and universe forbid)

Boobopgirl

You can only control what you can control, if she's antivax enough to think "homeoprophylaxis" is an acceptable solution, you're probably not going to change her mind.   Therefore, all you can do is say "I'm sorry your opinion on this is more important than seeing your grandchild." and then end the conversation.  End it. 

Boobopgirl

Wait: I just read one of those articles.  She thinks drinking something derived from the bodily fluids of sick people is a good idea??  Why not just go bite someone with hepatitis and suck their blood while she's  at it...SMH.

dogperson11

wittyacronym said:

Lol...homeoprophylaxis. 

My advice? Don't argue with fools, from a distance one cannot tell one from the other. Just say in order to visit MY child you must show me documentation of an up to date Tdap and end the conversation. 

Good luck! 



*now waiting for the resident anti-vaxxers to show up and roast me for my opinion while posting no real evidence for homeoprophylaxis*

I agree with all of this except I would have DH handle it or handle it together. His mom, he needs to be the one being firm.

emwj10187

I will say this conversation has made me remind all my family memebrs to get their Tdap before baby comes! 

let us know how this goes...

newtoo

I'm sorry you are dealing with this. How very stressful. Do you think bringing your obgyn's advice into it would help you at least not feel like the bad guy even if it doesn't get your MIL to change her attitude? That's what I did. I asked my dr about tdap during my first pregnancy and he told me in no uncertain terms that any family who intend to spend a significant portion of time with and holding the baby should be getting the tdap. This didn't totally make people less cranky about doing it but it helped me feel better for me to be able to say that my doctor who I trusted very much stated that close family members intending to spend a lot of time with baby in the first few months need the vaccine to keep baby safe. My brother in law wouldn't do it so the way I handled it was to allow him to come over but he wasn't allowed to hold the baby and I didn't really let him get super close. Which was fine with him. And he really only came around like 2 times in the first couple months so both my dr and I felt like the risk was low and my compromise with him was appropriate for our situation. That probably wouldn't fly with your MIL though. You are the parent and have a right to make decisions about your newborn's wellbeing. It isn't an unreasonable request AT ALL.