Sharp rise in number of parents refusing newborn vitamin K shots, putting babies at 81-fold higher risk of severe bleeding

In the hours after birth, newborns are typically given a shot of vitamin K, which they are naturally deficient of after they are born. 

One shot of the vitamin is crucial for preventing vitamin K deficient bleeding (VKDB), a rare but deadly condition that causes bleeding in nearly every organ.

Research cited by the CDC shows infants who do not receive a vitamin K shot at birth are 81 times more likely to develop VKDB than those who get it, and about one in five babies with the condition die. 

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Although it is not a vaccine, experts fear the vitamin K shot has been included in a nationwide wave of rising anti-vaccine sentiment and declining vaccination rates for once-eliminated illnesses like measles and polio. 

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In December, a national study of more than 5 million births was published in JAMA Network, which found that in 2024, 5.2 percent of babies born in the US had not received the vitamin K shot. 

This is a 77 percent increase from 2.9 percent in 2017.

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