Vitamin K Deficiency Causes Bleeding in Children – How To Get a Shot

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US parents can ensure their newborns receive vitamin K shots to prevent potentially life-threatening bleeding.

More babies in the United States are developing potentially life-threatening bleeding as increasing numbers of parents refuse a vitamin K injection routinely offered to newborns, according to new research.

Peer-reviewed studies published on November 5 in JAMA and JAMA Pediatrics both found a rise in vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) among infants.

"The data raise[s] concerns about increased parental rejection of vitamin K injections and potential harm to infants," says the JAMA Pediatrics study.

Vitamin K is essential for blood clotting, but babies are naturally born with low levels of the nutrient. Without sufficient amounts, they can develop serious internal bleeding, including in the brain.

The research is the first to examine rising infant bleeding cases alongside increasing refusals of vitamin K shots over the past decade.

Newsweek contacted the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) via email on Wednesday for comment.

The vitamin K shot is an injection given to newborns shortly after birth to help their blood clot properly.

Vitamin K occurs naturally in green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale and broccoli, as well as vegetable oils, eggs, meat and fermented foods

But little passes from mother to child through the placenta during pregnancy. Breast milk also contains relatively small amounts, leaving newborns vulnerable to vitamin K deficiency.

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