Just curious... Are any of you expectant thinking about passing on the Vitamin K shot given at birth? Everything I've read so far is mad confusing so I was wondering if any of you have decided to not get it?
I hadn't given it much thought when it was first presented to me as an option. It was just done with my first, my second baby had bruising from a long pushing phase so we did it, and then i skipped it with my third because everything was straight forward, i had tons of vitamin k rich foods in my diet and was unable to find anything convincing one way or the other. The above research changed my mind and we have already signed to do it with this baby.
I have mixed feelings. There is vitamin k drops you can give your baby which is a more natural alternative.
With our first my husband had them give our daughter the shot. With this one we are still unsure. I'm naturally minded and don't like giving our daughter things that aren't necessary.
Do the research for yourself though and decide with what you feel right. Your doctor will gladly give you the pros and cons, that's their job.
@1stComesLove421 i encourage you to read the link i posted. I am in the less is more camp when it comes to injecting things and definitely do not think that most of what we do to infants is in their best interest, but i found some compelling information and i trust the interpretation of the sources.
I can't remember how I came to this conclusion bur I didn't get it with my son and I won't with thus one. I know I read a lot about it and felt it was unnecessary. No one at the hospital harassed me about refusing the shot either
@maiatene thanks for your reply. I'm naturally minded as well and have been researching maybe a little too much. I read that taking Vitamin K supplements myself would help but adding breastfeeding to the mix totally confused me. I appreciate your reply!
I'm with @komorebi. The Evidence Based Birth article is very thorough and gives a great rundown of the pros/cons. Personally, I can't think of a reason to not give the vitamin K shot that outweighs the potential benefits.
Vitamin k is to help the blood clot. Your baby will not have it when they are born. If they do not have it and get a cut, they could bleed out. Get the vitamin k shot.
I will definitely not opt out of this. The site posted by @komorebi is excellent.
I see no reason to forgo something that has little risk and maximum potential to save my baby from a life-threatening issue.
As the Evidence Based Birth site concludes: Giving a breastfed infant a Vitamin K1 shot virtually eliminates the chance of life-threatening Vitamin K deficiency bleeding. The only known adverse effects of the shot are pain, bleeding, and bruising at the site of the injection. Out of many millions of injections, there has only been one report of an allergic reaction in recent history.
Re: Vitamin K Shot
I hadn't given it much thought when it was first presented to me as an option. It was just done with my first, my second baby had bruising from a long pushing phase so we did it, and then i skipped it with my third because everything was straight forward, i had tons of vitamin k rich foods in my diet and was unable to find anything convincing one way or the other. The above research changed my mind and we have already signed to do it with this baby.
With our first my husband had them give our daughter the shot. With this one we are still unsure. I'm naturally minded and don't like giving our daughter things that aren't necessary.
Do the research for yourself though and decide with what you feel right. Your doctor will gladly give you the pros and cons, that's their job.