Newborn vitamin K shot refusal jumps by 57%

NewsNation — A growing trend of vitamin K shot refusal among parents is putting newborns at risk of a dangerous, life-threatening bleeding condition.

Vitamin K is crucial for blood clotting, but babies are born with very low levels. This puts them risk of vitamin K deficiency bleeding , which can lead to complications and death in newborns.

The vitamin K shot became a routine vaccination for newborns in the 1960s. According to the National Institute of Health , this single shot administered to the thigh muscle within a day of birth "essentially eliminated cases of bleeding from vitamin K deficiency nationwide."

"It's really terrifying. It's like we're going backwards," Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, pediatric physician-scientist at Lurie ​Children's Hospital, Chicago, said of growing refusals in a Reuters report . "We're trying really hard to keep little babies alive."

But almost 70 years later, there is a continued increase in the number of parents who are wary of vaccinations, opting out of the life-saving newborn preventative care.

From 2017 to 2019, there was only about a 1.3% increase in parents refusing. Over the past six months, that statistic has jumped by 57% , however, from 5.2% refusal in December 2025 to 8.1% in June.

In recorded cases of VKBD, researchers at the American Academy of Neurology found that for babies who developed the condition, "approximately 14% of the babies died, about 40% had long-term neurological disabilities such as cognitive impairment, seizures or motor deficits and about 63% of babies had brain bleeds."

"There may be a growing perception among parents that vitamin K is unnecessary," said Dr. Kristan Scott of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who led a NIH-supported vitamin K shot research team. "Unfortunately, opting out of vitamin K for a newborn is akin to gambling with a child's health, forgoing a straightforward and safe measure that effectively prevents severe complications."