The Truth About Vitamin K For Infants
What centralized medicine has failed to understand about this subject
Synthetic Vitamin K in regards to birth is a controversial subject, but I believe it’s only a sensitive subject for those who are ignorant and haven’t educated themselves on the nuance of it.
This article covers the risks, facts, and alternative methods available from a comprehensive perspective.
There’s nuance to this subject.
Don’t throw a temper tantrum if you disagree.
You’re an adult, so act like one.
Instead, let’s talk about it sincerely.
The level of depth I go to for this information is no joke. Furthermore, I have skin in the game since my first son was recently born. It’s a major reason why I’m writing about this in the first place.
On Vitamin K
Vitamin K is a fat soluble vitamin that’s necessary for normal blood clotting, but there are multiple forms of it.
K1 (Phylloquinone)
K2 (Menaquinone)
Even within K2, there are several forms, most notably:
MK-4
MK-7
Both are crucial for health.
For the newborn context, we’ll only focus on Vitamin K1. It’s only passed through the placenta or breast milk in small amounts, even with a heavy K1 diet. Bacteria within our gut can actually make Vitamin K and this is a newborns main naturally occurring source.
Here’s the catch:
Babies are not born with enough of the right bacteria to make enough vitamin K to ensure proper clotting, so it takes days or weeks until your baby has enough bacteria to produce it to be safe from harm.
Cue VKDB.
Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding.
In some babies, the low levels of Vitamin K can make their blood unable to clot as needed. Sometimes, it’s visible (continuous bleeding from the cord site or a scratch). Other times, it’s unseen (internal bleeding without an injury).
There are 3 different types of VKDB.
Early onset form: Occurs within a day of birth. Very rare. Often seen in cases where mom was on medications that interfere with clotting.
Classic onset form: Develops 2-7 days after birth.
Late onset form: Can occur from 1st week of life up to 6 months of age (with a peak incidence between 3-6 weeks). This form is devastating to the infant and has the potential for permanent neurological damage or death.
What are the stats on this?
Early and Classic VKBD onset occurs between 1 in 60 to 1 in 250 babies according to the CDC when babies don’t receive adequate K supplementation (numbers vary based on feeding patterns & other risk factors).
Late onset VKBD occurs 1 in 14,000 to 1 in 25,000 according to the CDC, in babies who don’t receive K supplementation.
The % for 1/14,000 = 0.00714%.
The % for 1/25,000 = 0.004%.
What increases the risk of occurrence?
Some meds taken during pregnancy (including anticoagulants, anticonvulsants, tuberculostatics, & cephalosporins)
Antibiotic use during labor
Early cord clamping (always cut the cord once it’s fully white so full blood supply from placenta can enter baby)
Instrumental birth (vacuum/forceps)
Need for resuscitation post birth
Bruising or birth injury
Liver or bowel disease in newborn
Late onset feeding (colostrum has more Vitamin K than breast milk)
Inadequate breast supply
Exclusive breastfeeding
Surgical procedures post birth (including circumcision)
Babies who have diarrhea, celiac diseases, cystic fibrosis
Birth or early infancy during summer months
What are signs of the disease?
If you choose not to supplement with Vitamin K, refer back to this.
One-third of babies who develop VKBD have NONE of the risk factors listed prior or show any of the following warning signs:
Black stool
Spontaneous bruising
Bleeding from mouth, nose, umbilicus, circumcision site, anus
Hematomas (blood filled swelling)
Poor feeding/lethargy
Prolonged bleeding from puncture sites or cuts
Difficult breathing
Enlarged liver
What is the standard of care from centralized medicine?
It’s an injection of Vitamin K into baby’s thigh within 6 hours of birth.
This apparently has been shown to reduce VKDB to 1 in a million, but as with most centralized “solutions, keep the pictures below in mind.
What alternatives are available?
Oral supplementation.
There’s only one effective oral regimen:
2mg orally within a few hours of birth + 1mg weekly for 3 months, so long as breastmilk makes up over 50% of baby’s nutritional intake.
Bio-K-Mulsion is a great option.
If you choose this form, it’s only 4 drops at birth and 2 drops per week after that. The Ingredients are K1, water, gum arabic, and sesame seed oil.
By the way, I’m not an affiliate for this company and use it right now for my own son.
I’m also not ignorant to the Cascade of Intervention with birth from the centralized paradigm. Using one intervention often leads to more interventions because these people don’t understand systems thinking. They’re “solutions” create new problems = rinse and repeat.
I hope you’ve gained value from this.
It’s important for expecting parents to understand.
Much love,
Zaid