NEW YORK (WABC) — It is not a trend that doctors want to see, but pediatricians and OB-GYNs say fewer and fewer parents of newborns are allowing their babies to receive a Vitamin K shot that has been proven to be sage for decades.
“And they don’t really know why they’re refusing. They saw it in TikTok or somebody told them, and as a result, they don’t want it – but they can’t list reasons,” said Dr. Candice Foy of Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.
Vitamin K is typically administered right at the hospital after birth as a supplement, since babies lose certain protective clotting factors. Without it, they are vulnerable to life-threatening bleeding disorders.
“As a result, being both in the newborn nursery as well as in the hospital, I have seen at least five babies in the last two years admitted with different levels of significant bleeds,” added Dr. Foy.
According to the National Institutes of Health, which recently released a study of five million newborns, the rate of those not receiving the vitamin shot has increased by 77 percent between 2017 and 2014.
Doctors believe social media and misinformation are playing too big a role.
“It’s definitely been building. You know, when I started working at Northwell more than 10 years ago, I rarely remember having these conversations, and now they just seem to be happening more and more,” said Dr. Heather Levin.
They say it is all happening as parents and government push back against vaccines. In the case of Vitamin K, pushback over the ingredients in the shot and supposed links to cancer – none of which has been proven legitimate. What they do know is that without the Vitamin K, 1 in 260 babies could have complications.
“It’s scary to see, and they come in and they want everything done for their baby and it was preventable. What happened to these babies was preventable,” adds Dr. Foy.
Expect to hear more on prevention from some hospitals in public safety announcements planned for the future.
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