VITAMIN K

REPORT

Prepared By : Allison Molloy

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INTRODUCTION

The vitamin K injection is an intramuscular shot given to

newborns shortly after they are born. Vitamin K is a

naturally occurring substance in the body that helps

the blood clot. Newborns are born lacking Vitamin K so

an injection is given to them so they do not experience

excess bleeding.

Recently, a lot of parents have been refusing giving the

vitamin K injection to their children. Their reasonings

range from misinformation to wanting natural remedies

for their child

When children do not get this injection, it can lead to

vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB). This can cause

excess bleeding in their body and even lead to death

becuase their blood cannot clot.

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AND EVIDENCE

What Is The Problem?

Many parents are refusing the vitamin K intramuscular injection for
their newborn children. Their reasoning for refusal ranges from
wanting natural remedies for their child, the uptick in people refusing
vaccines (even though this injection is not considered a vaccine),
misinformation, risk outweighing benefit, not trusting their doctor or
pharmaceutical companies, and experiences from previous
pregnancies. Becuase newborns are born with low levels of vitamin K
in their system, there has been an increase in vitamin K deficiency
bleeding (VKDB). VKDB is excess bleeding in the newborn bodies
that they cannot control becuase their blood cannot clot. This can
lead to death for these newborns.

What Is The Evidence?

In a study completed by Loyal & Shapiro (2020) they found, "Without
prophylaxis, estimates of the incidence per 100 000 births of VKDB
range from 250 to 1700 for early VKDB and from 10.5 to 80 for late
VKDB." This clearly demonstrated that without the vitamin K
injection, the incidence of VKDB is much higher than without. This
study also distinguishes that early VKDB (occurs between birth and 2
weeks of life) is much more prevalent than late VKDB (occurs
between 2 weeks and six months of life). They also found that, "The
frequency of refusal of intramuscular vitamin K by parents ranged
from 0% to 3.2% in US hospitals, up to 14.5% in home births, and up to
31.0% in birthing centers" (Loyal & Shapiro, 2020).
 UNDERLYING 04
CAUSES

Who Is Affected And How?

Despite not even being able to make the decision for themselves, the
ones who are affected by this refusal are the newborns. If the
newborns do not get the injection refused by their parent, they are
the ones who suffer with low levels of vitamin K and can possibly
develop VKDB which can lead to death. This should encourage
parents to make the best decision for their child becuase it does not
affectthem, it affects their child.

Underlying Causes

As mentioned earlier, there are many reasons why parents may

refuse the injection for their child. One reason that I believe is a heavy
influence is the uproar in parents refusing vaccines for their children.
The vitamin K injection is not considered a vaccine becuase it is a
naturally occurring substance in the body and does not prevent a
virus. Even though it is not a vaccine, there is a lot of misinformation
that can cause parents to still believe that it is. Another reason that
parents refuse the injection is the want for natural remedies for their
child that does not include injections. This could be becuase of the
uptick in natural lifestyles coming from the new age of social media
sharing. Another reason is that parents do not want to give their baby
an injection right after they are born. There is a pill form of the
vitamin K injection, but it is not nearly as effective in preventing
VKDB as the injection is.
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CONCLUSION
So What?
Why does this matter? This matters becuase with the
vitamin K injection as prophylaxis, VKDB can be avoided.
There have been many studies on the injection and the
good that it. provides, so why are more and more parents
refusing it when it can help their newborn? There are
even many physicians who will not perform circumcisions
without the baby receiving the injection first.

What Next?

Because this is a huge public health issue, there are many

things that can be done to help change public opinion on
the injection. I would recommend the follow:

Have public education that can educate the masses on

what the injection is and how it can prevent death in
infants. I would think this would look like what the
advertisements for the COVID vaccine looked like.
Make sure that providers in OB-GYN offices are
providing education on what the vitamin K injection is
and why we give it to newborns shortly after they are
born.
I would also make sure that in OB-GYN offices, parents
are taught exactly what VKDB is and how it can be
avoided in their newborn.
Another recommendation I have is to have online and
in-person seminars given by professionals that can
explain the injection, explain VKDB, and answer any
questions that parents have about either the injection
or VKDB so they feel more comfortable making their
decision about the injection and the other baby
medications given at the time of birth.
REFERENCES
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021,

January 1). FAQs about vitamin K deficiency

bleeding. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/vitamink/faqs.html

Loyal, J., & Shapiro, E. D. (2020). Refusal of

intramuscular vitamin K by parents of newborns: A

Review. Hospital Pediatrics, 10(3), 286–294.

https://doi.org/10.1542/hpeds.2019-0228

Loyal, J., Weiss, T. R., Cheng, J. H., Kair, L. R., &

Colson, E. (2019). Refusal of vitamin K by parents of

newborns: A qualitative study. Academic

Pediatrics, 19(7), 793–800.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2019.04.003