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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
Vitamin K orally versus injectable Vitamin K?
Please no flames - I'm just looking to see if anyone is considering this:
I met with my pediatrician for a prenatal consult before my baby arrives, and he recommended something I've read in several books/articles about using an oral vitamin K supplement rather than the standard injectable vitamin K, which is given to all newborns. Apparently there have been several studies (three major control studies that I read) that, for whatever reason, indicate that the injectable vitamin K is linked with an 80% increased chance of childhood leukemia and childhood cancer. A nearly two-fold risk of leukemia was found in children who had received IM vitamin K as opposed to oral vitamin K. However, the bleeding disorder the Vitamin K helps control is very scary, so my doctor highly recommended I get the oral vitamin K instead of the injectable. I believe it's administered in 3 or 4 doses at different intervals up until my baby would be a few weeks old.
Has anyone considered/done this? If so, where did you purchase it at and was it difficult to administer to a newborn?
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Re: Vitamin K orally versus injectable Vitamin K?
From the article:
Since the 1960's, vitamin K has been used widely in the UK, throughout Europe and the US, being given as a single injection just after birth. This is cheap and effective, with no recorded treatment failures, even in babies with liver disease, who are at most risk.Concerns about the safety of this arose in the early 1990's when two papers were published in the medical literature, suggesting an association between vitamin K injection and childhood leukaemia (a blood cancer). The papers looked at children with leukaemia and checked how many of them had received vitamin K injection compared to children without leukaemia. They found an increased risk of leukaemia by a factor of about 1.8.
Following this very unexpected finding, lots of other comparisons were made throughout the world to see if this was indeed a true increase in risk or just a chance happening in this group. Studies from the UK, USA, Germany and Sweden found no evidence to support these findings. A Danish study followed all children born in Denmark over a 40 year period from 1945 and compared the leukaemia rates in those receiving no vitamin K, vitamin K by mouth and vitamin K injection and found no difference.
More recently a Scottish study looked at over 400 children aged up to 14 years with cancers and found no association between vitamin K injection and any cancer. Two more studies were published this year containing a total of 4000 cases of childhood cancers, demonstrating no association with vitamin K usage.
Ok yes, thank you, but I really didn't need anything objecting to the studies I've read. My godfather and father-in-law are doctors and they have both read the (very reputable) studies that strongly support the link between vitamin K injections and increased risk of childhood leukemia and cancer.
I'm honestly not looking to get into a debate or posting war of conflicting studies. I just want to know if anyone has considered/given the oral form orf vit K.
One was as recently as 2007. Again, I'm honestly not interested in a posting war of studies - I've done more than my fair share of research and spoken with several doctors besides my pediatrician and believe there is a link.
Again, I am just looking for opinions from anyone who has considered/done this.
Wasn't starting a posting war. Just posting a link w/info as your original post seemed to indicated that was the kind of thing you were looking for.
Couldn't hurt to do the oral one instead if you're uncomfortable with the injection. I believe leukemia can also be something that children are genetically pre-disposed to.
My hospital didn't offer the oral Vitamin K so we went with the injection. I didn't even think to ask her pediatrician if they offered the oral one.
Yes, I've read that you shave to go through midwife "supply companies" (lol, whatever that is!) to get the oral form. Supposedly, you cannot give the injectable Vit K orally, so you have to get the special suspension. As long as I can find something showing it is just as effective, I'd rather not inject.