I gotta say, I didn't think I would ever participate on these, Mostly because I'm already a 'bad' enough parent what with my formula feeding ways that i really don't need to attract any more flaming to my neck of the woods.
But.. vaccinations... This is actually one subject that kind of gets my back up and I've been trying to figure out why. So please excuse my babbling.
Usually, i don't care how parents parent. I mean their choices are theirs for their own reasons and I'm seriously from the 'what works for you should be done' camp.
I would never co-sleep (i dont understand how ya'll do it :D), but if it works for you - hey i'm not going to fault you on it. Goodnight sleep tight! I don't breastfeed nor do i think its the be all or end all of my child's health (especially since hes been sick ONCE - which i believe is very good considering I work in a germ factory - had constipation or anything bad in this 13 month existence), I also believe that its severely overrated thanks to the major swing from pro breastfeeding propaganda. Yet if you think its damn right important to breastfeed until your babe is going to school - you go ahead and do that. Put your feet up and let me get you a glass of water to keep you hydrated. Good on you for your dedication.
But vaccinations, more to the point - people not vaccinating, just really baffles me.
After reading a post about this on Our Lady of Perpetual Bread Crumbs' blog about this subject I realised there are a whole lot of reasons for my bafflement.
1. Simply put, like many parenting things... Its what you do. And here in little old NZ? Its what you do.
I feel its a responsible thing to do to protect your child to the best of your ability. Saying that, I hadn't even come across the vaccination worries here that I do in posts from the United States. We were all vaccinated as children and in my opinion it only did us good.
BUT I'm not a medical professional. Nor are alot of the people harping on about how vaccinations are bad, like the ones going on about the links of autism and the MMR shot for example.I read alot, (alot alot) and I have read quite a few of the studies on this lately... but I'm really not about to walk into my doctors office (who has over 30 years of experience treating kids) and say "you know what, I think you are wrong" because of something i read on the internets or heard from some celebrity's lips.
2. I believe in herd protection. As Perpetua talked about also, I myself feel its my duty to protect the herd. Vaccinating does not offer a 100% guarantee against disease but the more people vaccinated means the less effect these horrible illnesses have on our society.
This is probably why the subject gets my back up a little when people don't vaccinate. Your other parenting choices do not effect me in any way, just like my badass formula feeding ways do not effect you, ....but this does for this very reason.
3. and most importantly I think, I TRUST my health care system.
In this country vaccinations are free. My child's total health care is free until hes 6 and even then it only springs up to $20 a visit. All of our prescriptions are no more than $3 because of a government subsidy.
Until i read Perpetua's post on this subject I didn't even really factor this into why people don't vaccinate. People in the States it seems, do not trust their health care system or their doctors or their insurance companies because of all the money they swindle.
But, as in my point 1, I'm not a medical professional and I trust my doctor to do right by us. I trust the NZ vaccination schedule to do right by us.
And if anything, because they are really not getting anything out of it. As I said in a comment on Perpetua's post, why would they bother forking out all that cash so we can do this stuff for free if its just going to cost them even more later down the line when all these suspected side effects pop up?
4. It seems to trendy lately to do the opposite of what the professionals tell you to do.
Of course, I don't believe its ok to be a sleepy sheep who doesn't question anything or educate themselves on whats going on. Nor do I think its ok to sit back and let people decide what to do for you - you need to speak up if you do not like a direction your government (reasons to vote people!) or whatever is taking charge of something important to you. But at the same time, they are professionals for a reason. And you NEED to trust someone, no?
Sigh.. I dont know guys, I don't know.
7 comments:
Ack, blogger ate my comment! And it was a long one! :(
Well, I guess that means I should shorten it up. What I was saying is that I don't really understand where the anti-vax people are coming from. Amoment2think has done some interesting posts on trends, so a lot of it is that. The money/insurance system is the one thing that makes me suspicious...but not suspicious enough to question something that I know will almost certainly do more good than harm.
And I was also saying that it's great to have a pov from New Zealand. Thanks for posting!
I think there are more concerns with side-effects in the US because of the 'lowest bidder' mentality. Governments can buy in huge bulks and therefore get a better price - but that doesn't mean they aren't still getting overcharged by pharmaceutical companies.
However, Canada (and NZ, presumably) has very stringent quality controls on what they will buy in terms of medication and vaccinations. So at least we know it's regulated consistently.
Great post, not enough rational discussion on this subject I think. Among the more affluent in the US right now, it seems to be very trendy to buck authority, especially if it is a large corporation. Some examples would be "Big Formula" and "Big Pharmacutical". Also because of all the misinformation about an autism-vaccine link on the internet and in public media, many parents are genuinely worried about their kids' health. We haven't seen rubella, small pox, polio, etc. in so long that they are not seen as threats, while autism, which is in the news everywhere lately, is. The Lancet medical journal in the UK, just retracted the original study that made this supposed link and started this whole mess! The U.S. in general has very good health care, but it is very expensive. There are a LOT of politics wrapped up in the health care debate here, so I won't get in to that, but I trust the vaccination schedule and I trust my Dr. If I didn't, I'd change Doctors. Plus getting vaccinated protects everyone, not just your own family. But everything aside, vaccinations have been working since the early 1900's and have virtually eliminated horrible diseases, why would anyone stop now?
Our vaccinations are free for our children here but that is not why I chose to vaccinate my kids. I don't feel money would have any barring on trying to prevent my child from getting a disease. I would beat myself up if my child got something like meningitis and I sat there saying " gee I should have just gotten that vaccine! "
Parents carry sani-wipes and disinfectant gels wherever they go now, god forbid your child catch a cold but they can turn an ignorant head to vaccinations. It baffles me as well.
I do vaccinate my kids but the thought of anything medical being MANDATED by the government is too Big Brother for my personal comfort. They have so much control over SO much of my life as it is. To force me to inject something into my body or that of my child that I am not 100% sure is good for us makes me cringe.
Also, I know a mother whose personal experience with an unexplained, life-threatening disorder which occurred directly following his immunizations is "anecdotal" enough for me to say that the US imm.s are not for everyone.
I mean, I don't want someone else forcing me to START using Purell (gah! The thought makes me cringe!) or not be ALLOWED to breastfeed. In my eyes, it is similar (though the herd immunity is important. VERY important. I just don't think that mandating something medical is... wise... especially in the USA's medical Mess.)
Our government has paid out over 1.5 Billion dollars in the Vaccination Injury Copensation Plan to families that have had child harmed by vaccinations. So in other words our government agrees that vaccines hurt these children but they still tell parents that they are safe. They can't hurt you. Ironic huh? Yes we were vaccinated as children but not with as many vaccines as our children are recommended to get now, nor did we ever receive six shots in one day. The vaccines are meant to prevent illness but that isn't always what they do. I have seen first hand the damaging side effects of vaccines. I also trust that they do more good than bad, but health care professionals will not admit that they can harm you. It happens and I am not willing to play roulette with my childs life. We need more educated parents, my child is my responsibility, I choose learning disability or measels. I live with the consequences, he is my child to protect and I do that to the best of my ability. Not going with the flow is a good thing to me I'm not bucking the system I'm protecting my child to best of my ability. The reason we have such a rigorous vaccination schedule in the US is b/c parents don't come back to get all their kids boosters in so the government has decided to pump them up by age two to insure the most amount of kids get the most amount of vaccines possible. It's a way to insure the masses are vaccinated but not all children's bodies can handle that amount in such a short period of time.
Talk to a mother who's baby died b/c they were allergic to an ingredient in the HEP B vaccine . (HEB B that doesn't need to be administered at birth unless the mother has Hepatitis B, yet in the US we give it to all infants at birth.)
Talk to a mother that had a normal functioning child that they lost the day they received their MMR vaccination. Better yet check out our governments vaccination compensation plan, it's there for a reason, vaccines can hurt your baby. I'm not saying all vaccines are bad. But every child is different and you have no way of knowing which child will be affected. Let's let them grow up a bit and get an immune system, let their brains grow before we pump them up.
Our vaccination schedule is the most rigorous in the world. China doesn't start vaccinating until age 2. There is a reason for that.
Actually, China vaccinates from birth. We are on the Chinese vaccination schedule- BCG (for tuberculosis) and hep B 1st shot at birth, then 2nd dose at 1 month, etc.
Leo is 4 months and we've also had 2 polio doses(they do oral polio vacc here, not shot), the HIB and the first DPT.
The DPT was the one I was really waiting for- not so concerned abt him catching hepatitis, polio, etc- but I've had pertussis as an adult (the P in DPT, aka whooping cough) and in the outbreak I was in, babies died. Also recently read a heart wrenching story about a mom who lost her 10 week old son to pertussis.
If everyone vaccinated their kids, those babies would all still be alive. (Babies can't get the DPT til 3 months or older, so all under that are at risk.) The Portland, Oregon outbreak I was in started in a community with a high population of unvaccinated kids. Those parents' decision killed other peoples' babies.
Bridget
(reporting in from Beijing)
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