Your baby’s first few hours are precious, but they can seem overwhelming between focusing on bonding with baby, learning to breastfeed, and all the tests and treatments your care team will perform to protect baby’s health. Once of these treatments that is given to all newborns is an antibiotic eye ointment called erythromycin. This ointment is required in most states to treat your newborn’s eyes and prevent newborn pinkeye, or ophthalmia neonatorum (newborn conjunctivitis)- an infection that can lead to vision problems or blindness if not treated. Here’s what you need to know about newborn pinkeye and the erythromycin treatment.
Newborn Pinkeye
There are many possible causes for newborn conjunctivitis including infection, allergy, and eye irritation. Bacteria or viruses can be passed to your baby during pregnancy or in the birth canal, which can lead to an infection.
Gonorrhea (Gonorrheal Conjunctivitis)
Newborn pinkeye infection can also be caused by gonorrhea, a disease that spreads between sexual partners. Erythromycin ointment is applied to your newborns eyes shortly after birth to prevent this infection which, if not treated, can damage their cornea (the clear covering of your baby’s eyes). Specifically, pinkeye from gonorrhea can cause a life-threatening bloodstream infection called meningitis (swelling of the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord).
Symptoms of Newborn Pinkeye
A newborn with pinkeye make show symptoms such as:
- red eyes
- swollen eyelids
- thick, pus-like drainage
Keep an eye out for these symptoms even if your baby was treated with the ointment. Newborn pinkeye should be evaluated and treated by a doctor right away.
Prevention
The erythromycin ointment only prevents newborn pinkeye infections from gonorrhea. There are other germs that can cause pinkeye in newborns such as chlamydia, staph, strep, E. coli, herpes simplex, and H. influenzae.
During pregnancy, ask your doctor about being screened for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and other infections that can cause health problems for your newborn. This ensures you can be treated before your baby is born. If you are not screened during pregnancy, get tested during labor or delivery.
Another way to protect your child during pregnancy is to get vaccines. Your baby receives antibodies (immune protection) that your body creates from these vaccines during pregnancy. This helps protect both you and your baby and keep you healthy.
More Information
- Bringing Baby Home: What to Do Before Leaving the Hospital
- Steps to Prevent Infections During Pregnancy
- Sexually Transmitted Infections: Why Testing is Important
- Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infections: What Parents Need to Know
- Your baby’s first hour: getting to know each other
- Eye Problems in Children & How They’re Treated