More US Parents Are Refusing Vitamin K for Newborns, Study Reports

31 March 2024
by: Juicing For Health
in Lifestyle & Wellness

Last updated on

A routine medical practice that has protected American newborns for over six decades is now facing unexpected resistance. Hospitals across all 50 states are reporting a troubling pattern, one that has left pediatricians and neonatologists increasingly alarmed. For most parents, the first hours after birth involve a whirlwind of emotions, paperwork, and medical procedures. Among these procedures is a simple injection that takes mere seconds to administer. Most families accept it without question. But a growing number are saying no. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in December 2025 has quantified what many doctors suspected but couldn’t prove. And the findings have sparked urgent conversations in medical communities nationwide. What would lead parents to refuse a decades-old preventive measure for their newborns? And what happens to babies who don’t receive it?

What the Numbers Show

Researchers analyzed electronic medical records from more than 5 million newborns delivered in 403 hospitals between January 2017 and December 2024. Data came from Epic Systems’ Cosmos database, covering facilities across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Results revealed that roughly 4% of babies born during this period did not receive vitamin K shots. In raw numbers, that translates to approximately 200,000 newborns. More concerning than the overall percentage is the trajectory. In 2017, refusal rates sat at 2.92%. By 2024, that figure had climbed to 5.18%. After adjusting for various factors, researchers found the rate rose from 2.57% to 4.62% over the same period. Dr. Kristan Scott, a neonatologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the study’s lead author, said he and his colleagues had noticed more parents declining the shot in their own practices. That observation prompted the research. Still, the results caught him off guard. “The increase is not surprising, but the degree to which it did increase did catch me off guard,” Scott said.

Why Newborns Need Vitamin K

Babies enter the world with very low levels of vitamin K, a nutrient essential for blood clotting. Several biological factors explain this deficiency. Minimal transfer of vitamin K occurs across the placenta during pregnancy. Newborn gastrointestinal systems absorb nutrients poorly. And breast milk contains low concentrations of it. Without adequate vitamin K, a newborn’s blood cannot clot properly. Even minor injuries can lead to excessive bleeding. More severe cases can prove fatal. Recognizing this vulnerability, U.S. hospitals began administering vitamin K shots to newborns in the early 1960s. A single intramuscular injection within the first six hours of life provides enough of the nutrient to prevent deficiency. Since 1961, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended universal administration of the shot at birth. Before the widespread adoption of this practice, vitamin K deficiency bleeding in infants was a recognized medical problem. After hospitals began routine administration, cases became extraordinarily rare.

What Happens When Babies Skip the Shot

Newborns who do not receive prophylactic vitamin K face serious risks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, babies who skip the shot are 81 times more likely to develop severe bleeding than those who receive it. Bleeding episodes can occur anytime within the first six months of life. Early bleeding may appear within the first 24 hours. Classic vitamin K deficiency bleeding typically occurs between days two and seven. Late-onset bleeding, the most dangerous form, can strike between two weeks and six months after birth. Symptoms range widely in severity. Some infants experience bruising or excessive bleeding when the umbilical cord is cut. Others suffer gastrointestinal bleeding. But the most feared complication involves bleeding inside the brain, which functions essentially as a stroke in a newborn. Late-onset vitamin K deficiency bleeding carries a mortality rate between 20% and 50%, according to various studies. Survivors often face lasting neurological damage. Dr. Scott noted that at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, staff have observed increases not only in vitamin K refusal but also in bleeding cases. He believes further research will confirm a correlation between rising refusal rates and more bleeding events nationwide.

Which Families Are Refusing

Researchers identified several demographic patterns among families declining vitamin K shots. Race and ethnicity showed the strongest association with refusal. Non-Hispanic White newborns had the highest rate of nonreceipt at 4.3% during the eight-year study period. Babies categorized as other or unknown race showed an even higher rate at 5.6%. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander newborns had the lowest refusal rate at 2.6%. Mode of delivery also correlated with vitamin K administration. Vaginal births showed higher refusal rates at 4.2% compared to 3.2% for cesarean deliveries. Geographic differences appeared modest. Urban areas showed slightly higher refusal rates at 4.0% compared to 3.8% in rural communities. Socioeconomic factors measured by the Social Vulnerability Index showed minimal variation. No significant changes in maternal or infant characteristics occurred over the study period. Researchers could not identify any single demographic shift that explained the rising refusal rates. One limitation of the study involves missing information. Researchers lacked data on specific reasons parents gave for declining the shot. Without direct surveys or interviews, the motivations behind refusal remain somewhat unclear.

Misinformation and Vaccine Skepticism Are Fueling the Trend

Medical experts point to several cultural and social factors driving the increase in refusals. Chief among them is confusion about what vitamin K actually is. Dr. Tiffany McKee-Garrett, an associate professor of pediatrics at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, has observed this confusion firsthand. “Parents are equating vitamin K injections to vaccines,” McKee-Garrett said, adding that a vitamin K shot is not a vaccine but a supplement derived from a plant. Misinformation spreading on social media platforms has amplified parental concerns. Posts questioning the necessity of the shot, claiming it causes harm, or suggesting natural alternatives have gained traction in certain online communities. Dr. Ivan Hand, director of neonatology at NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County in Brooklyn, sees the trend as part of a broader societal shift. He believes growing mistrust in authority figures and institutions began building in the late 2010s. The timing of the increase supports this theory. While refusal rates accelerated during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the upward trend began before 2020. Public skepticism of pediatric preventive interventions may have intensified during the pandemic, but the seeds were planted earlier. Hand co-authored a 2022 American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement addressing parental refusal of vitamin K shots. At that time, concerns about rising refusal rates were already circulating among pediatric specialists.

A Problem Hidden by Success

One of the greatest challenges doctors face when counseling hesitant parents is the very success of vitamin K prophylaxis. Six decades of routine administration have made vitamin K deficiency bleeding virtually invisible to the general public. Dr. Hand described this paradox in stark terms. “These treatments have been so effective that people don’t understand the consequences. They have never seen babies with severe bleeding, so they think it doesn’t exist,” Hand said. “But you don’t see it because we are treating these kids.” McKee-Garrett has heard reports of vitamin K deficiency bleeding cases in the Houston area, something that was extremely rare for decades after U.S. hospitals began widespread administration. She called it a preventable disease that should not be occurring at all. Parents today have no memory of an era when newborn bleeding was a common concern. Without that lived experience, the risk feels abstract. When weighed against fears stoked by online misinformation, some families conclude the shot is unnecessary. Doctors worry they are now creating a new population of vulnerable newborns. As refusal rates climb, more infants enter their first months of life without protection against a known and preventable danger.

What Experts Are Calling For

Researchers and clinicians agree that reversing this trend will require coordinated effort across multiple fronts. A single intervention is unlikely to solve the problem. At the hospital level, experts call for standardized practices around clinician communication with parents who express hesitation. Training staff to address concerns with empathy and clear information could help sway undecided families. At the state level, some experts advocate for public health regulations requiring vitamin K administration or mandating specific informed consent processes when parents refuse. Public education campaigns may also prove necessary. Countering misinformation on social media requires meeting parents where they consume information. Trusted voices from pediatric medicine could help shift perceptions if they engage directly with online communities. Scott believes ongoing research will continue to document the consequences of rising refusal rates. As more data emerges linking nonreceipt to bleeding events, the case for intervention will only grow stronger.

A Preventable Crisis in the Making

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/V4-kqnG7WxA
American medicine achieved something remarkable in the 1960s. A simple shot, given once at birth, nearly eliminated a dangerous condition that had threatened newborns for generations. For over 60 years, parents could take their babies home without worrying about spontaneous bleeding. Now, that protection is eroding. Not because of any change in medical recommendations. Not because of supply shortages or policy shifts. But because a growing number of parents are saying no. Behind every percentage point increase lies real families making real decisions. Many believe they are protecting their children. Most have never seen what vitamin K deficiency bleeding looks like. Medical professionals are watching closely, hoping to reverse the trend before preventable tragedies accumulate. Whether education, regulation, or some combination of approaches will succeed remains to be seen. What remains certain is that vitamin K deficiency bleeding is entirely preventable. Every case that occurs represents a failure of communication, trust, or information. And for doctors who have dedicated their careers to protecting newborns, that failure is increasingly difficult to accept.

Some of the links I post on this site are affiliate links. If you go through them to make a purchase, I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you). However, note that I’m recommending these products because of their quality and that I have good experience using them, not because of the commission to be made.

About Juicing For Health

Loading...

Comments

Leave a Reply

XHTML: You can use these tags: