Vitamin K injection for newborn?

[moomin35]

I assume this is recommended by the NHS for a reason. Anyone doing it or not doing it and what are your reasons?

[Blondieminx]

Personally I wanted to avoid anyone putting needles anywhere near my newborn so I opted for the drops for DD. I put it in my birth plan. The mw tried to give the injection as standard "we're just going to give the vit K injection now" "er no thanks - she's due to have it orally thanks" "ah right, ok I'll be back shortly with that then"

I read the tip on here of feeding through the 5 day heel prick test - worked well for us.

[Penny6Pence]

Helen, I think you mean I'm being rude, rather than ignorant. In this case, ignorance is an inability to understand the scientific evidence in favour of the vitamin k injection.

[HelenHen]

Blondie... Our midwife did that too even though I had it in my birthplan and dh and I were in agreement after he'd done his own research!

Penny have a

[everythinghippie29]

My boy fed through his Vit K injection and didn't even register any distress at being injected.

I felt confident that it was being done for the right reasons and was happy to allow it.

[moomin35]

If we go for the oral option, when are these given and who by? Thanks :-)

[ilovepowerhoop]

www.nct.org.uk/parenting/vitamin-k - gives info on when to give it orally as it differs depending on whether you formula feed or breastfeed

[Writerwannabe83]

I'd much rather my baby have a quick injection at the start of life and it be done and dusted - Quick and simple when they don't even know what's going on. I imagine having their heel prick test done hurts far more than the injection does.

By the time they get to the age where oral drops are given you are forcing something vile tasting into their mouth - poor baby
Plus, when it's given orally don't they have to have it 2 or 3 times over a number of months before they are fully covered??

At least with an injection it's done once, it's quick and the baby is covered from birth.

[TheScience]

moomin - one dose is given by the midwife at birth, one by the midwife at 5 days and one by the HV or MW at a couple of weeks.

[Possiblyorange]

I went for the injection both times. Neither of mine cried at all from it. Unlike, as others say, the heel prick test! Tried feeding through but both of mine interrupted their feeds to scream hysterically for a few moments before resuming happily.

ice cream does a similar trick after the 1 year MMR jab

[CrispyFB]

My last three had to be c-sections and they were screaming enough anyway at being rudely ripped from their nice comfy home, what's one more cause for screaming?

I admit I may have considered it differently had I had a natural birth and baby was calm and happy. Perhaps there's an option to get the injection whilst breastfeeding the baby so it's not as bad for them?

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

We went for the injection. DS slept through it.

[Jolay100]

Hurray for dinosnores. That's all I'm saying. IM vit K for mine all the way, closely followed by all vaccinations as recommended.

[ipswichwitch]

DS1 was whisked off to scbu within a minute of birth and got the injection up there, without our knowledge. When the MW asked me if he'd had it when we were being discharged I had to say "i don't know", "what's vit k", and "why did nobody tell me about this?"

With DS2 I assumed he'd get the jab too, thought no more of it until the HV asked about it a few days after birth. He was meant to have it orally (cost cutting), but nobody bothered to tell me. DH ended up rushing to the hospital on Christmas eve to get it. Tbh I wish he had the injection - was a right arse on getting it into him, while trying not to drop the stupid little plastic vial down his throat. He struggled, spat it out and once vomited up an entire feed becauseI stupidly fed him first. It must taste pretty grim.

[ChicaMomma]

I'll be opting for the oral drops. Followed by breastfeeding/Vit K supplementation (myself). A midwife told me a few weeks ago that the levels in the injection is far in excess of that required, which is somewhat alarming. I began researching this after and it does seem it COULD be true- mind you, it seems to depend which side of the argument the researcher is on of course! So please dont all jump down my throat because i have said it 'could' be true. My point is, there are still unknowns around this whole area.

Of all the research i've done, this one struck a cord with me the most:
articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/27/high-risks-to-your-baby-from-vitamin-k-shot-they-dont-warn-you-about.aspx

But look- it's a personal choice- it's not particularly helpful to berate someone for choosing not to opt for it.

[squizita]

When the time comes, no choice for me. I can only carry a pregnancy whilst on anti coagulants... so vitamin K is a must. But then after being on clexane daily for a few months, needles don't phase me at all and as some others have mentioned the experience of being born into the cold air etc' is probably way more of a rude awakening than a pin prick.

[weebairn]

After hours of being squeezed out of a vagina or cut out of a belly, I'm pretty sure babies are not noticing a little injection...

[ilovepowerhoop]

I dont know if the mercola website is a good one to take info from as a lot of it is made up pseudo science and scaremongering

[HelenHen]

You could say that about most sources on either side though!

[ilovepowerhoop]

he is known to be a complete quack though

[Boosiehs]

HelenHen that's not at all the case! DinoSnores has posted peer reviewed scientific papers. Actual facts. Your Mercola website is full of made up nonsense. he quotes the bloody bible FFS!

[squizita]

As others have mentioned - his site is on a list which always comes up of no-nos for folk like me (medical anxiety- clinical) as it's quacky scaremongering.

[PenguinsEatSpinach]

Regardless of your views on vitamin K (both mine had the jab), I don't think anyone should be taking advice from that Mercola site. After a quick read he looks like an utterly unreliable source. He's not even a medical doctor - he's an osteopathic doctor and nutritionist . Reminds me of that Ben Goldacre joke - picture of a rubber duck with 'nutritionist' underneath. And some of his view are, well, interesting.

[evertonmint]

HelenHen - with respect, if you are making the decision not to give Vitamin K to your children against medical advice, then you really need to make sure you carefully choose only appropriate sources to make that decision. That means peer-reviewed papers detailing the results from trials with proper protocols and statistical analyses, like Dino has posted. It does not mean relying on any old website that gives you a view different to the official guidance. If you don't review the data critically and just take it all at face value, you run a huge risk of making the wrong decision for your children. Saying "You could say that about most sources on either side" suggests you really don't understand how to assess the varying quality and validity of the arguments being made. I don't know all the sources you have researched, so I can't say you have made the wrong decision as you may have found some decent sources (in which case, please share them), but I do know that all sources are not equal as your last statement seems to suggest.

[HelenHen]

Evertonmint thanks for your concern but I certainly did not take this decision lightly. I spent days upon days researching it and weeks and months thinking about it. I asked dh to do his own research on the topic and we then discussed it extensively! Please don't patronize and presume people don't understand just because they take a different side to you. This was almost two years ago so I can't remember what sources but they were probably all the ones you use and more. I was following this thread to see if anybody could give anything that has come up since I dud my research and I haven't seen anything. If there was something convincing I would certainly take that on board.

I do not make these decisions lightly for me or my kids and how dare anyone suggest otherwise just to back up their own argument!

Seriously, I'll leave ya to it!

[RalphRecklessCardew]

HelenHen,

Ok. Let's play it this way. If it's not useful then why is the cash-strapped, overburdened NHS doing it?