Risks and Benefits of Eye Ointment for Newborns

When conjunctivitis or “pink eye” happens in the first four weeks of life it is called Opthalmia neonatorum or ON. 

Antibiotics now effectively treat ON if your baby was to contract it. 

If the birthing mother or a sexual partner has gonorrhea or chlamydia the baby has a higher risk of contracting a more serious form of ON as they pass through the birth canal. 

The eye ointment called Erythromycin is generally advised for all newborns in the US because of  the high number of women in the US that do not receive prenatal care.

There are many countries that do not routinely recommend Erythromycin, and many that do. Message me if you’d like to know about a specific country. The countries that do not recommend it instead recommend a screen and treat method as an alternative.

BENEFITS OF EYE OINTMENT

-Shown to reduce the risk of ON caused by gonorrhea in the birthing mother

-May be helpful if the mother was not adequately screened/treated for gonorrhea, or a sexual partner is re-infecting her

- May be especially helpful in regions where rates of gonorrhea are very high (developing countries)

- Inexpensive to administer

Note: it is shown to reduce overall bacteria in the eye, so it may help to prevent ON contracted from other bacteria, but there is very little evidence showing this. It is also important to note here that non-chlamydial and non-gonorrheal pink eye is not vision threatening, and usually not dangerous.

RISKS OF EYE OINTMENT

-Eye irritation and blurred vision for the baby

-Parental concerns about interference with bonding (research shows that newborns can tell the difference between direct and indirect eye contact, and they prefer to mutually gaze with their parent)

-May contribute negatively to the newborn’s antimicrobial resistance 

-Not 100% effective at preventing gonorrheal ON, especially now due to the false sense of security the ointment brings

-Probably not effective against ON from chlamydia or from other non-gonorrheal bacteria, inconclusive data

- Side effects for newborn include chemical pink eye