# Erythromycin eye ointment

**Does our newborn need erythromycin eye ointment?**

Whether your newborn receives antibiotic ointment in the eyes soon after birth, a routine step in many hospitals meant to prevent certain eye infections.

In short: Parents choose between 3 main approaches: Accept; Decline if maternal STI screening is negative; Decline. Evidence: experts disagree. Credible bodies or researchers disagree — decide whose guidance you'll weigh. Best settled: around the birth.

- Area: Newborn medical choices
- Evidence: Experts disagree
- Best settled: Around the birth
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/newborn-medical-choices--erythromycin-eye-ointment

## Erythromycin eye ointment: what are the options?

1. **Accept**: The baby gets the antibiotic eye ointment after birth.
2. **Decline if maternal STI screening is negative**: You decline it if the mother's tests for sexually transmitted infections were negative.
3. **Decline**: You decline the ointment.

## Erythromycin eye ointment: what does the evidence say?

**Experts disagree.** Credible bodies or researchers disagree — decide whose guidance you'll weigh. (Contested between countries)

The US Preventive Services Task Force gives routine newborn ocular prophylaxis an A grade (2019), erythromycin is the only FDA-approved drug for it, and it is mandated in most US states. The Canadian Paediatric Society (2019) does not endorse routine use: it favors a risk-based approach, with testing of the mother and follow-up or ceftriaxone for high-risk cases, and notes the ointment has little or no effect on chlamydia conjunctivitis. Whether parents can decline varies by state and was not confirmed here

Sources:

- [USPSTF](https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/ocular-prophylaxis-for-gonococcal-ophthalmia-neonatorum-preventive-medication)
- [CPS](https://cps.ca/en/media/neonatal-ocular-prophylaxis-shortage-of-erythromycin-ophthalmic-ointment-for-use-in-newborns)

## What else is worth knowing?

The ointment is meant to prevent eye infections a baby could catch during birth, mainly from gonorrhea. It is routine or required in many places and not recommended routinely in others. Ask what your hospital does and whether you may decline.

## Questions to ask each other

- Do we know what our hospital does by default and whether we can say no?
- What would we want to ask about it ahead of time?
- Would our decision change depending on test results during pregnancy?

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General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=newborn-medical-choices&topic=newborn-medical-choices--erythromycin-eye-ointment