vitamin K injection for baby

[kjc27]

Hi people..what's your views on vitamin K injection I must say since this is my 3rd and with age I've gained experience over the years I've come to learn and understand alot,with that comes a lot of questioning and research..have many of you done this and questioned what there giving your newborn/children.. my decision to have vitamin K is that I will only allow this to be done orally my reason on this is labor in it's self can be very distressing on baby let alone being jabbed with a needle first thing..my views on immunization are a stricked No No....Looking at what goes in to these are completely distressing...some may question my views but I think they are just when it comes to poison and mercury being just one of the components in these...when u ask for a full breakdown of what is being administered to your child...the answer you will get is No....hmmmm reasons for that?...

Please be aware In no way am I saying that's parents choice to do this is wrong or bad just my personal opinion and choice to not allow it...any one share my views?

Vitamin K is found in breastmilk, especially in colostrum. It is not at the levels with which formula is fortified, but like other vitamins artificially added to formula, the breast milk version is much more readily available. This is an important confounder in assessing the "amount".

The prevalence of lack of Vit K in newborns is known from number of deficiency associated bleeds and deaths compared with other ages in the population.

I'm confused as to whether the OP doesn't have her children immunised ie with standard vaccination schedule or whether it is just the vitamin k she doesn't want to have through an injection.

"The injection is derived from cow bile, and the ethics of this are not considered by the majority of midwives. I have spoken to about four, none of whom were aware of its origins, and all of whom have administered it to children regardless of religious background etc"

So, if you or any member of your family developed type 1 diabetes would you refuse insulin? Until the 1980s insulin was derived from cows and pigs, and before that from dogs.

SarahSPT vit K is a large compound and therefore can only pass into breast milk in small amounts. They did a study on increasing maternal levels of vit k and it made no difference to the amount present in breast milk. Breastfed babies also have more difficulty absorbing different types of it due to a lack of bacteria in their guts (formula fed babies have more) so it's more important breastfed babies get the additional amount at birth.

Have my first 'stricked', 'high professional'? All sounds v peculiar...

Thanks BettyOff, very helpful

Various people here have suggested that oral might not be best option due to spitting it out, etc so if it's not a high enough dose in breast milk, injection seems best?

Other sources I've read so far seem to be quite vague about side effects, or even if there are any, from the injection so it's confusing as to what to do. I'm presuming research is pretty definitive when it comes to this so doctor's wouldn't do it unnecessarily.

Does anyone know how long this procedure has been in place?

And didn't mean to hijack the thread, sorry, but hope my questions might help the OP as well.

OP, I refused vit K injection, I asked for oral vit K which was given no problems.
For the second dose I had to go to the hospital's pharmacy and then back to the GP who administered it (bit of a faff). But I didn't forget about it, didn't make a fuss, although I am sure they thought I was, just did it my way because I thought it would be a bit off to subject her to a jab if there were alternatives. We have no history of blood disorders in the family, the pregnacy was normal, i knew she will have to have jabs at some point, just thought: give the poor kid a break, she's just been born a few minutes ago.

bunbaker, I am just advocating better knowledge and informed choice. I know very little about Hinduism, but can't imagine a Hindu mother would be best chuffed that her child's first nutrients ex utero come from a cow. Muslims might like to know it is Halal, etc. (Which I am guessing it isn't). There is a difference between medical need (eg after diagnosis of diabetes) and the 'prevention is better than cure' philosophy.
Betty, your post was interesting. Should we not wonder why babies find it difficult to absorb and why breastmilk stubbornly refuses to supply to to an infant?
I have already said I am not wholly adverse to giving it to DC2 bunbaker. Depends on birth circumstances.

I'd far rather a quick jab, forgotten in the overwhelming experiences of birth,than being force fed something bitter. I'd far rather baby only had milk in early days!

Catsize I think your point is that if the body doesn't do it naturally then maybe that's best and we shouldn't interfere artificially? I completely understand this reasoning but unfortunately the body doesn't always work in an ideal way for everyone. Most babies would be absolutely fine and we would definitely avoid the few side effects that can occur but the cruelty of natural selection means a few wouldn't and would die of haemorrhagic disease of the newborn. Just as if we refused to intervene in all births we would definitely have more natural births and avoid unnecessary interventions but those few babies that are truly obstructed would never exit the birth canal and both mother and baby would die.

Both of my children who survived to term had Vitamin K injections and every other child we will have it as well.

Personally, I prefer for them to have a quick scratch in the leg, rather than to risk the well known risks of significant disability or death due to a bleed.

There are lots of 'unnatural' things we do to our children and ourselves. That's why a third of women no longer die in childbirth, that's why rather than the 12-16% of infants who didn't survive to one year in 1900, today only 5% of babies die before their first birthday.

SarahSpt, as far as I know there haven't been any side effects discovered from Vit K injections apart from the discomfort of an injection. Many, many years ago there was a scare about it been linked to childhood leukaemia but that has since been proved to not be the case.