There’s been an increase in newborn deaths in this country, and doctors say it’s due to parents rejecting a crucial injection given to babies at birth.
Vitamin K isn’t a vaccine, it’s an essential shot that helps blood to clot. It’s one of three key interventions given to newborns before leaving the hospital, along with the hepatitis B vaccine and an antibiotic eye ointment. When it comes to the vitamin K shot, leading American health institutions and the World Health Organization all recommend newborns get the shot.
The unfortunate thing is that when it come to the vitamin K shot, it’s become lumped in with the anti-vaccine movement, even though it’s not a vaccine.
So what happens if parents refuse the shot for their newborn?
Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows babies who don’t get the vitamin K injection at birth are 81 times more likely than those who do to develop late vitamin K deficiency bleeding, and that bleeding isn’t just as simple as bleeding from a scrape or cut. In many of those cases, oxygen can’t reach their brains and then pools around their skulls. One in every five babies with vitamin K deficiency bleeding will die, according to the CDC.
And all babies are at risk, regardless of sex, race or ethnic background because at birth, babies have very little vitamin K stored in their bodies since no matter what diet their mother had, only small amounts of the vitamin are passed to them through the placenta. In addition, breast milk contains very low amounts of vitamin K, so even babies who are exclusively breastfed still aren’t getting enough vitamin K.
Many parents will rightly ask, “Are vitamin K injections safe for my newborn?” The answer is yes, as many studies have shown the shot is safe for newborns, despite ill-informed advice from online commentators who claim to be experts. We currently have about 100 years of research in this country that shows the vitamin K shot at birth is safe and effective.
Currently, there’s no true way of determining just how many babies die in this country each year or have suffered severe brain damage because their parents refused the vitamin K shot at the hospital. However, death certificate data from both federal and state agencies has started to climb in recent years according to a Pro Publica report published last month. The report noted that some hospitals have seen refusal rates of the vitamin K injection more than double.
A study published in 2025 by the JAMA Network, which is the peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals published by the American Medical Association, found that of the more than 5 million births in 2024, the number of babies not receiving the vitamin K shot topped 5%, that’s up 77% from 2017.
Vitamin K deficiency is preventable. Without the vitamin K shot, bleeding can happen anytime up to six months of age and may appear as bruising, internal bleeding, or, in the most severe cases, brain bleeding that can cause disability or death.
Doctors worry we are creating a population of newborns who are at risk because of misinformation on the internet.
If you’re pregnant or considering having kids, knowledge is key. To learn more about the vitamin K shot and how to protect babies from life-threatening bleeding that is preventable, the CDC has a page dedicated to the research at www.cdc.gov/vitamin-k-deficiency/hcp/fact-sheet/index.html.
Rachel Brougham is the former assistant editor of the Petoskey News-Review. You can email her at racheldbrougham@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Babies are dying because parents are refusing this common shot | Opinion
Reporting by Rachel Brougham, Community Columnist / The Petoskey News-Review
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Rachel Brougham, Community Columnist | USA TODAY Network
