More parents skip vitamin K shot, and infant bleeding incidents rise

Doctors on Long Island said the number of parents refusing to allow their newborns to receive the recommended vitamin K shot continues to increase, as new research shows more infants are having bleeding episodes in their first six months.

Newborns are deficient in vitamin K, which helps with normal blood clotting, and experts said bleeding can happen spontaneously in infants.

"You could have a GI bleed that could require a transfusion," said Dr. Heather Levin, an obstetrician/gynecologist specializing in maternal fetal medicine at North Shore University Hospital. "Even a small bruise could turn into a big bleed. It can have significant ramifications if your blood can’t clot."

Between 2017 and 2025, the percentage of newborns receiving injectable vitamin K dropped from 97.7% to 95%, with the largest decrease between 2024 and 2025, according to a study published last week in JAMA. At the same time, the rate of infants up to 6 months of age developing vitamin K deficient bleeding more than tripled.

In a letter in support of the study, doctors wrote that the drop in vitamin K administration comes "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 researchers wrote. "The rarity of VKDB may leave today’s families largely unaware of its grave consequences."

Infants who did not receive vitamin K also had a higher risk of intracranial bleeding, or bleeding on the brain, in their first six months, the study said.

Researchers looked at records for more than 11 million infants up to 6 months of age who received care between 2017 and 2025. The letter authors stopped short of saying the reduction in vitamin administration caused the surge in bleeds, but they said the data raises "concerns about increased parental rejection of vitamin K injections and potential harm to infants."

Both Levin and Dr. Candice Foy, a pediatrician and medical director of the newborn nursery at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, estimated about 5% of newborns in their health systems are not getting the vitamin K shots due to concerns from their parents.

"I think now when people think of shots, they think of vaccines," said Foy.

They both said serious bleeding episodes have been reported among infants who did not receive vitamin K and either returned to the hospital or had to remain there after they were born.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended the vitamin K shot since 1961 as the most effective way to protect newborns from bleeding episodes. Babies may not receive sufficient levels of vitamin K from their mothers in utero or through breast milk. They also have a limited ability to absorb it through food.

Some parents are opting for oral vitamin K, which is used in some European nations but not officially sanctioned by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.

Levin and Foy said parents are concerned about the black box on vitamin K that warns of "fatal hypersensitivity reactions, anaphylaxis" through intravenous or intramuscular methods — even though it is primarily directed at adults and for larger doses.

"People search on the internet and they come across this," Levin said. "They don’t understand that the dose is different for newborns versus adults. They are scared and want to protect their babies. They don’t realize they are putting their babies more at risk [by not getting the vitamin K shot]."

She has discussions with her patients who are hesitant but want to talk about the shot with her.

"I think it does carry weight when they see their physicians, who they entrust to get them through their pregnancy, are supportive of it," Levin said. "Other patients come in with their mind set, and there is nothing I can do to change it at that moment."

Foy also gives reluctant patients some time to think about it.

Those who refuse also have to sign a form that says they understand denying the vitamin K shot dramatically increases the risk of infant bleeding.

"Social media has nine months to scare them out of this," Foy said. "I have 90 seconds to talk them into it. So we are working on changes so they can start having some of these discussions earlier with their obstetricians and midwives."

By Lisa L. Colangelo

lisa.colangelo@newsday.com@lisalcolangelo

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.