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Preemies eyes not being properly protected during phototherapy used to treat jaundice?
Do/Did you have a newborn infant undergoing phototherapy treatment for jaundice? Does/Did your child have proper eye protection? My Grandson didn't. Severe eye problems due to preemies eyes not being protected, as phototherapy used to treat jaundice can cause damage to the nerve layer at the back of the eye, the retina, if the eyes are not properly protected from the light. SHARE YOUR STORY!
Note: Names are withheld for privacy reasons.
From: S. in Australia: Hi. My daughter is 7 weeks old and was born at 36 weeks they classed her as premature. She was under the lights for 48 hours and i had they same thing done to me. My husband and i would come into the special care nursery and find that the mask were also pushed up and i have been really worried about her eyes. One of her eyes there is a noticeable difference in color one is lighter then the other, I've been thinking that it might be due to the lights. They also didn't have her in the temperature controlled crib either which they did have one but couldn't be bothered. They were understaffed which most of the hospitals are in Australia. I'm actually thinking about starting a petition to get more nurses in hospitals because some of the nurses that were on duty were sick and taking care of babies doing 12- 13 hour shifts. How long was your grandson under the lights for?? There was also another little baby under the lights and the parents weren't there for that day for some reason, and i saw the same thing. It breaks my heart. I want to write to start a petition about the public health system it is screwed up. There are not enough nurses and not enough funding. Something needs to be done. I would really appreciate if you could write something for me to back me up in this. Because the reason why my daughter and that other baby wasn't looked after properly was a lack of staff.
From: K. in Wyoming: Hello. I found your website from the infants with glasses website. I made a brief comment on the post in the forum. But I wanted to email you, too. I am very interested in your opinion of the lights used for jaundice causing eye damage.
Our little AC was born only 3
weeks early, he was jaundice and under the lights for
several days. We even had a home health nurse come into our
home to set up the lights for us. She told us that he did
not need anything over his eyes. They put a small paper
towel like cover over part of the light where his face would
be under.
We found out just today that he
is near sighted, far sighted, has a cataract and
astigmatism. He also has a problem with the retina still
being connected to the lens which is blocking his vision.
The doctor is not sure of how much function he will actually
get in this eye. We will be wearing glasses 24 hours a day,
giving him eye drops 3 times a day and patching 4 hours a
day!
I have gone over and over in my
head every thing I ate and drank while pregnant but I would
have never thought of this connection. Thank you so much
for your website. I am going to be looking into this more
myself, and I will keep you updated if I find anything
thank you so much
From: S. in Alabama: Hi. I just read your story about your grandson’s eye problem resulting from inattentiveness during phototherapy. My son is currently in a hospital undergoing phototherapy. I walked up to the window and saw my son screaming and flailing in distress. My wife thought he was having a seizure. The nurse on duty was sitting at a desk on the other side of the room, seemingly unbothered by the ordeal. I waited a good 45 seconds for her to respond. No telling how long this had been going on. My son’s mask was pulled down off his eyes and was actually covering his nose and mouth. I banged on the glass and motioned to the nurse, who casually walked over and fixed his mask, then returned to her book/magazine. We immediately requested they bring him to our room with the blue light station so we could monitor him throughout the night. We stayed up all night, and had to fix the mask at least 5 times an hour. I don’t need to tell you this level of attentiveness does not happen in the nursery. The next morning they said he had to be kept in the nursery from then on. They moved the light stations to the far side of the nursery, in the back corner away from the window. On top of that, they even covered the entire opening with a blanket so no one could see in. They have no idea if his eye protection is in place, or improperly positioned to hurt his cornea or suffocate him. They obviously have no concern for what can go wrong with this process. I found that there is another option – Biliblankets! Seems like a no brainer to me. I’m going to put in a recommendation to switch to biliblankets whenever possible. It will probably fall on deaf ears. We get to go home tonight and have a nurse bring us the phototherapy equipment to our home. I asked if biliblankets were available and they said YES! It is cheaper and much easier on the parents and most importantly, the baby. I don’t understand why that hospital doesn’t use them as much as possible. Has your grandson’s eye sight gotten any better? Thank you for taking the time to document your experience with this. I may not have been as persistent nor vigilant had I not read your story. Oh, and the nurses are indeed no fan of the internet. They prefer we all be left in the dark, don’t they? Like you said, it’s just infants we’re talking about, no big deal. Unbelievable! From: D: unknown state
Hello Mrs. Fox,
Last updated 03/19/2009
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