Newborns Are Experiencing Life-Threatening Bleeding As More U.S. Parents Decline Vitamin K Shot, Studies Find
Two new studies published this week highlight a sharp increase in life-threatening bleeding incidents in American newborns, which coincide with a rise in parental refusals of vitamin K shots at birth. Vitamin K is an essential component that allows blood to clot; babies are born deficient. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended a vitamin K shot be administered at birth since 1961 in order to prevent severe internal bleeding, which can result in brain bleeding and even death up to six months after birth.
The studies both address the correlation between a rise in parents refusing vitamin K shots and severe bleeding incidents. One study assessed 5.2 million infants; the number of babies who didn’t receive the shot jumped from 3.1% in 2017 to 6.8% in 2025. Those numbers align with an uptick in bleeding events among American babies — between 2017 and 2025, the incidence of bleeding by 6 months increased from 225 to nearly 400 per 10,000 births.
The second study found that between 2017 and 2025, “the percentage of newborns who received injectable vitamin K decreased from 97.7% to 95.0%.” The rate of vitamin K deficiency (VKD) and vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) increased by 215% and 347% respectively. Only 19% of infants diagnosed VKDB had received their boost of vitamin K at birth.
Both study’s authors point to waning trust in public health following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rise anti-vax sentiment in recent years thanks to HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s crusade against the childhood vaccine schedule.
“Increases in VKD and VKDB — peaking in 2025 — occur against the backdrop of eroding trust in public health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing vaccine hesitancy, and growing parental unease about interventions in newborns. As with childhood immunizations, vitamin K prophylaxis may be a victim of its own success; the rarity of VKDB may leave today’s families largely unaware of its grave consequences,” wrote study authors.
Parents who declined vitamin K shots for their babies cited concerns about outcomes or effectiveness, toxicity of the ingredients, risk of cancer, and a desire for “natural” alternatives, researchers also found.
Earlier this year, a federal judge determined that Health & Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. violated federal law by changing the childhood vaccine schedule in January and dismissing long-standing members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. His ruling resulted from a lawsuit filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. The judge called Kennedy’s actions “dangerous,” saying they “have sowed chaos and confusion for parents and pediatricians across the country.”
It’s likely pediatric vaccines will remain a hot political topic heading into 2027. On the heels of midterm elections, the AAP issued a statement congratulating a number of newly elected and re-elected pediatricians, and urging Congress to make evidence-based children’s health policies a priority.
source https://www.scarymommy.com/pregnancy/newborns-life-threatening-bleeding-parents-decline-vitamin-k-shot
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