Some parents are choosing to not let doctors give their newborn child the Vitamin K shot. The shot has been given to babies for decades and helps blood clot.
Dr. David Gray, pediatrician at Covenant said all babies are born deficient of Vitamin K.
“So we learned several decades ago that we could reduce the number of complications in a newborn through Vitamin K, giving them a boost of the natural helpful preventive cycle of bleeding,” said Dr. Gray.
Dr. Gray said the greatest risks are in the child’s first few days of life, but the shot offers protection for weeks after that.
“Vitamin K primarily comes through the diet, and so breastfeeding moms, if they’re eating a healthy diet with lots of vegetables, then they’ll pass Vitamin K in small amounts to the baby in the breast milk as the baby develops normal bacteria in their intestinal tract, they’ll be able to produce some Vitamin K on their own which helps supplement what they get from mom,” said Dr. Gray.
