"Don't go looking up Vit K on the internet - read our nice little leaflet with all you need to know" ...patronising???

[bigmouthstrikesagain]

That was a quote from the Labour ward tour leader yesterday - when she was telling us about the Vit K injection. I am on baby no 3 but needed the tour as I have moved.

She was anxious to tell us not to go looking things up on the internet about the issue of giving vit K orally, via injection or indeed whether to give it at all. But the way she was saying it in such an irritating patronising manner made me want to go looking just to spite her! I am pregnant not half-witted - it was this sort of attitude that pissed me off when I was a first time mum and had to put up with more of it from HVs and ante-natal classes etc.!

Grrrr... I am even keener on homebirth no 2 after re-visiting a labour ward and the stuffy post-natal bays. Still before I go looking scary shit up about Vit K is there any MN wisdom on this issue? Last time with dd I opted for oral (and promptly forgot to give the 2nd/ 3rd dose) am not convinced it is necessary - am I being unnecessarily sceptical?

I am not convinced it is necessary either. Spookily i just posted on this on a the home birth yahoo group.

www.naturalchildbirth.org/natural/resources/breastfeeding/breastfeeding15.htm

there is the link

formula has vit k so it is not offered to ff babies at my trust if baby is ff at birth.

it is offered to bf babies because 'bm is low in vit k'

Yeah but... (vicki pollard emoticon)...

How much of it does the baby absorb whether orally or intramuscular?

BM may be low in Vit K in comparison to formula, the same as it is low in iron in comparision to formula. And this is the reason why a lot of HCP worry bfing mums, saying that the baby's iron stores run out after six months so they 'have to' give supplements or even give formula.

the key difference is that 50 -70% of the iron in bm is absorbed by the baby's gut.
Only 3 -12% of the iron in formula is absorbed by a ff baby.

Both my DC had it orally
I would have been happy to skip it altogether but DH disagreed

I'm with you blonde. x4.

Why on earth should you not look up information? I don't think it's necessary - surely babies are born how they need to be and if they needed more vit K they would not all be low in it? We've decided to go for it only if the birth is traumatic or needs intervention.
They really don't like you challening the received wisdom do they?

That is strange Kiskidee as I am in the homebirth yahoo group already just hadn't logged in today.

I will have a look though. I hope to breastfeed this one and will probably opt for the injection but won't be relying simply on the 'nice little leaflet'.

Thank you for the info - very interesting and kind of what I thought.

Exactly Kat2907 - it was the assumption that us silly pg women would go googling Vit k and our poor tiny brains wouldn't be able to process the info rationally and we would worry ourselves into premature labour or sommat!!! Even she went on to say that she had never known a baby with a straightforward untraumatic labour to even need this extra clotting agent... so the evidence for Vit K 's necessity is not overwhelming.

well bigmouth, the MN posse will be there to support you when you baby gets here.

Thank you I hope things will go smoothly but.... [quake]

AIMS has a book on Vitamin K

www.aims.org.uk/ look under publications

That did sound patronizing and was not the right way of approaching the topic, however the possible ramifications and long term consequences associated with not giving vit K could leave the child at risk of intra cranial hemorrhage - not a risk I would be prepared to take, Intramuscular injection is more readily absorbed :0

Thank you for the links to aims - I will have a look.

Ali - I did feel patronised and that was my point - I do think that there is a debate to be had about the use of Vit K and intelligent women being told - 'there there you don't need to think about this just read our 'nice leaflet' and then do what we tell you' - is frankly counter-productive.

I will probably agree to the injection - but if I have questions I will approach my midwife or 'shock horror' trusted resources on the internet for more information. It is naive to think people won't do that. So they need to re-think the communication of the HA policy in my local hospital. I may well write to the hospital trust and make that observation.

www.withwoman.co.uk/contents/info/vitamink.html

This article is what I based my own decision on not to have vit k for my second baby.

Her birth was straightforward, at home, if there had been complications/instrumental delivery I may well have consented at that point.

HTH

Claire

Thanks for posting that - confirms my thinking on the matter!