Increasing proportion of newborns do not receive vitamin K injection - risk of brain haemorrhage triples

Vitamin K is given to the newborn babies through a syringe within six hours of the baby's birth. It is given to prevent severe internal bleeding. Although they are rare, it is important that the children receive the shot, according to pediatrician Martina Dube from Mälarsjukhuset.

- In the worst case, the children can die from such bleeding, she says.

It was during the 1960s that people started giving the injection in Sweden.

- You have hardly seen any brain bleeding during the first months of life after you started giving the syringe, says Martina Dube.

More parents refuse

A new Swedish study, published in the journal Jama Pediatrics, in which over two million children participated between the years 2003 and 2021 shows that the percentage of newborns who do not receive vitamin K increases over time.

In 2006, there were 667 children who did not get the shot and in 2021, there were 1,619 children. The proportion of children without a documented vitamin K injection was higher for children who underwent home births.

The study shows that the risk of bleeding during the children's first six months was higher in the children who did not receive the injection. The risk of bleeding in or around the brain increased three times as much.

See when the newborn baby gets the shot and hear why more and more people refuse the shot in the video above.