Since 1961, the
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended that all newborns
receive a vitamin K1 injection to prevent vitamin K deficiency bleeding
(VKDB), which can be life-threatening
Parental
refusal of the vitamin K1 injection for their newborn is on the rise,
and one study found a correlation between vitamin K1 shot refusal and
subsequent vaccine avoidance
Children who
did not receive the vitamin K shot at birth were also 14.6 times more
likely to be unvaccinated at the age of 15 months. The findings were
said to offer a means to identify “high-risk” parents that will be prone
to not vaccinating their children
Parents have
had their newborn babies taken from them simply because they declined
the vitamin K injection. Several Illinois families have filed a
class-action lawsuit against local hospitals, the AAP, the DCFS and
several pediatricians
The vitamin K1
injection presents unnecessary and avoidable risks. A safe and effective
noninvasive way to avoid VKDB is to administer multiple doses of oral
vitamin K1
Since 1961, the American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended that all newborns receive a vitamin K1
injection to prevent uncontrolled bleeding caused by vitamin K
deficiency.1,2 Vitamin K1
is required for proper blood clotting, and newborns tend to have low
levels due to the fact that vitamin K doesn't cross the placenta very
well. Deficiency can result in sudden internal bleeding — typically in
the brain or intestines. This is referred to as "vitamin K deficiency
bleeding" or VKDB, and can be life-threatening.
Research published in 20143,4 in the journal Pediatrics found the number of parents declining the vitamin K shot for their newborn babies was on the rise, increasing from 0.21% in 2006 to 0.39% in 2012.5
The data were based on infants born in Alberta, Canada. In the U.S., data6
presented at the 2014 CSTE conference reported the refusal rate at two
Nashville, Tennessee, hospitals ranged from 2.3% to 3.7% in 2013.
A second 2014 study7
also concluded vitamin K refusal was on the rise, and with it, an
increase in late onset vitamin K deficiency bleeding in infants. Of
seven infants with confirmed vitamin K deficiency, five developed
vitamin K deficiency bleeding.
A 2017 poll8
found the most common reasons given by parents for refusing the vitamin
K shot were "perceptions of parents that the injection was
unnecessary, lack of knowledge about vitamin K deficiency bleeding, and
concern about preservatives."
Vitamin K Refusal Linked to Vaccine Avoidance
As reported by Scientific American,9 the 2014 Pediatrics paper10
found that children who did not receive the vitamin K shot at birth
were also 14.6 times more likely to be unvaccinated at the age of 15
months. According to the authors:11
"This is the first population-based study to characterize
parents who are likely to decline vitamin K for their infants and whose
children are likely to be unimmunized. These findings enable earlier
identification of high-risk parents and provide an opportunity to enact
strategies to increase uptake of vitamin K and childhood
immunizations."
"Our finding of a link between vitamin K refusal and vaccine
refusal was very concerning. We had expected a correlation between the
two but had not expected the association to be so high."
The correlation between vitamin K shot refusal and vaccine avoidance
is turning out to have severe ramifications for many parents. In
short, by saying no to the vitamin K shot, some hospitals are
automatically labeling you a negligent parent and a dreaded anti-vaxxer
in the making, so to speak.
Babies Taken From Parents Who Refused Vitamin K Shot
A number of stories have emerged detailing how parents have had
their newborn babies taken from them by simply because they declined
the vitamin K injection. In a September 2019 article,13 The Daily Citizen describes the harrowing ordeal of Angela and Brian Bougher:
"The Christian couple believes that 'God's creation isn't
automatically deficient or flawed at birth' and the shot is
unnecessary. The Boughers have a right to their beliefs, and if they
were fully informed of the risks then they should be able to decline.
The state of Illinois didn't see it that way.
Instead, in the moments after birth, a nurse told the Boughers
that their newborn daughter was being taken away and they were being
investigated for 'medical neglect.' It took 12 hours to get their
daughter back.
It's debatable whether the logic of Boughers' decision is sound —
however, medical professionals should know that the first moments of
life are crucial to both mother and child. To remove a child for such a
reason is a severe overreach of the state's responsibility to protect
children from neglectful parents.
The family's pain did not stop there. Later the Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) had law enforcement
officers make an unannounced visit the Boughers' home to investigate
and determine if any of their other four children were being
'neglected.'"
The Boughers and several other Illinois families who experienced
harassment and investigation by the DCFS over refusal of the vitamin K
shot have filed a class action lawsuit against local hospitals (Silver
Cross Hospital, Advocate Christ Medical Center and the University of
Chicago Medical Center), the AAP, the DCFS and several pediatricians.
As reported by CBS September 24, 2019:14
"They want a compensation and a court-enforced guarantee
that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services won't be
called if parents refuse to give their babies a Vitamin K shot."
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Is the Vitamin K Shot Needed?
In 2010, I interviewed Cees Vermeer, Ph.D., an associate professor of
biochemistry at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands,15 and one of the world's leading specialist in vitamin K.16 I've included it above for your convenience.
According to Vermeer, while vitamin K1 is necessary for newborns,
the shot is not. There are far safer and noninvasive ways to normalize
your baby's vitamin K1 level. He points out several areas of risk
associated with the vitamin K injection:
• The amount of vitamin K injected into newborns (0.5 to 1 milligram17) is far greater than needed • The injection may contain benzyl alcohol,18 a preservative that may be toxic for the baby's delicate immune system.
Preservative-free shots may contain a combination of polysorbate 8019 and propylene glycol20 instead,21 but these ingredients also have a questionable safety profile. For polysorbate 80, hypersensitivity and possible death are among the known risks22 • An injection creates an additional
opportunity for infection in an environment that contains some of
the most dangerous germs, at a time when your baby's immune system
is still immature
Perhaps most importantly, though, inflicting pain immediately after
birth causes psycho-emotional damage and trauma to a newborn, which is
both inappropriate and unnecessary.
In his 1999 paper, "Babies Don't Feel Pain: A Century of Denial in
Medicine," David B. Chamberlain, Ph.D., a psychologist and co-founder
of the Association of Pre-and Perinatal Psychology and Health, wrote:23
"The earlier an infant is subjected to pain, the greater the
potential for harm … We must alert the medical community to the
psychological hazards of early pain and call for the removal of all
man-made pain surrounding birth."
A 2004 study24
found that very early pain or stress experiences have long-lasting
adverse consequences for newborns, including changes in the central
nervous system and changes in responsiveness of the neuroendocrine and
immune systems at maturity. Similarly, a 2008 study25 concluded:
"Healthy newborns routinely experience acute pain during blood
sampling for metabolic screening, injection of vitamin K or hepatitis
vaccine, or circumcision.
Acute pain caused by skin-breaking procedures can lead to
physiologic instability and behavioral distress, and it has downstream
effects on subsequent pain processing, development and stress
responsivity. Because of these detrimental effects, reduction and
prevention of pain are worthy clinical goals that are also expected by
most parents."
Oral Vitamin K Is a Safe and Effective Alternative
The good news is there's a completely noninvasive and pain free way
to ensure your baby gets the vitamin K1 it needs: oral vitamin K drops,
which are readily available for hospitals to purchase26 if they do not routinely stock it.
Oral vitamin K1 is absorbed less efficiently than vitamin K1 that is
injected. However, this can easily be compensated for by adjusting the
dose. And, since vitamin K1 itself is nontoxic, there is no danger of a
bad reaction.
One reason oral vitamin K is not routinely used is because it
requires multiple doses, and it's feared new parents will forget to
comply with the dosing. There are many variations in recommendations
for the oral dosing. Among them:
Six-month weekly regimen — One 2-mg oral dose at
birth, followed by a once-weekly dose of 1 mg for the first six
months of life, provided they're breastfed at least half of the time.
This regimen was found to be as effective as the vitamin K shot,
Evidence Based Birth reports.27
Three-month weekly regimen — 2 mg at birth, followed
by once weekly dose of 1 mg for the first three months was found to
be "an efficient prophylaxis against VKBD."28
Three-month daily or weekly regimen — 1 mg dose at
birth followed by 25 micrograms per day for 13 weeks, or 2 mg at birth
followed by 1 mg per week for three months was found to provide the
lowest risk of VKDB.29
Three-dose regimen — 1 mg by mouth at birth, 1 mg at 1 week of age, and a third 1 mg dose at 4 to 6 months of age.30
Three-dose regimen — 2 mg four hours after birth, 2
mg on day four, and a third 2-mg dose in the fourth week was found to
"adequately" protect infants from VKDB.31 (Omitting the third dose was shown to provide inadequate protection).
Single dose — A single oral dose of 1 mg may protect against early VKDB in exclusively breastfed babies but not late VKDB.32
As noted by Vermeer, you can also increase your infant's vitamin K
level naturally if you are breastfeeding by increasing your own vitamin
K level. The milk of lactating women has been tested, and most is low
in vitamin K because the women themselves are vitamin K deficient.
If you take a vitamin K1 supplement, your milk also becomes richer
in vitamin K, as you would expect. However, prudence is required — you
need to make sure your vitamin K level is truly optimized, and for most
women, the vitamin K absorbed from foods won't be enough, so
supplementation might be needed.
Discuss Wishes With Your Doctor Before Your Baby Is Born
Ultimately, the choice about whether or not to consent for your baby
to be given a vitamin K shot is yours. For some, eliminating a source
of avoidable pain right after birth is worth the extra work required to
make sure your baby's vitamin K level is optimized.
If you choose to not expose your child to a vitamin K shot and would
prefer to have it given orally, you will have to make it very clear
not only to your obstetrician but also the nursing staff, as they would
be the ones who actually administer the shot.
The time to do this is well before your baby is born, to avoid
getting into a nasty argument right after delivery. That way, you can
make sure the hospital has oral drops on hand on the day of delivery,
and for you to take home with you to continue the dosing.
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