Why Is the Vitamin K Shot Given to Baby After Birth
Often Asked Questions (FAQ's): Vitamin K and the Vitamin K Shot Given at Nascency
Since 1961, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended supplementing low levels of vitamin K in newborns with a single shot of vitamin M given at birth. Low levels of vitamin K can pb to unsafe bleeding in newborns and infants. The vitamin Grand given at birth provides protection confronting bleeding that could occur because of low levels of this essential vitamin.
Below are some commonly asked questions and their answers. If you continue to have concerns almost vitamin K, delight talk to your pediatrician or healthcare provider .
Q: What is vitamin M, and how practise low levels of vitamin K and vitamin G deficiency bleeding occur in babies?
A: Vitamin K is used by the body to form clots and to stop bleeding. Babies are born with very little vitamin K stored in their bodies. This is called "vitamin K deficiency" and means that a babe has low levels of vitamin K. Without plenty vitamin One thousand, babies cannot make the substances used to grade clots, called 'clotting factors.' When bleeding happens because of low levels of vitamin K, this is chosen "vitamin K deficiency haemorrhage" or VKDB. VKDB is a serious and potentially life-threatening cause of bleeding in infants up to six months of age. A vitamin K shot given at birth is the best fashion to forbid low levels of vitamin K and vitamin Thousand deficiency bleeding (VKDB) .
Q: Why practice ALL babies need a vitamin K shot – tin can't I just wait to run across if my baby needs it?
A:No, waiting to see if your infant needs a vitamin Thou shot may exist too tardily. Babies can bleed into their intestines or encephalon where parents tin can't run into the bleeding to know that something is wrong. This tin can filibuster medical care and lead to serious and life-threatening consequences. All babies are born with very low levels of vitamin M because information technology doesn't cross the placenta well. Breast milk contains but small amounts of vitamin K. That means that ALL newborns have low levels of vitamin M, so they demand vitamin K from another source. A vitamin K shot is the all-time fashion to make sure all babies take enough vitamin G. Newborns who do not get a vitamin 1000 shot are 81 times more than likely to develop severe haemorrhage than those who get the shot.
Q: Doesn't the adventure of bleeding from low levels of vitamin K only last a few weeks?
A:No, VKDB can happen to otherwise healthy babies upwards to six months of age . The risk isn't limited to just the offset 7 or 8 days of life and VKDB doesn't just happen to babies who have difficult births. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigated 4 cases of infants with bleeding from depression levels of vitamin K. All four were over half-dozen weeks old when the bleeding started and they had been salubrious and developing normally. None of them had received a vitamin Yard shot at birth.
Q: Isn't VKDB actually rare?
A:VKDB is rare in the United states of america, simply simply considering about newborns get the vitamin K shot. Over the past two decades, many countries in Europe accept started programs to provide vitamin One thousand at nascency – later on, they all saw declines in the number of cases of VKDB to very low levels. However, in areas of the earth where the vitamin K shot isn't bachelor, VKDB is more than common, and many cases of VKDB have been reported from these countries
In the early 1980s in England, some hospitals started giving vitamin K only to newborns that were thought to be at higher risk for haemorrhage. They then noticed an increment in cases of VKDB. This tells us that giving vitamin Yard to preclude bleeding is what keeps VKDB a rare status – when vitamin K is non given to newborns, cases of haemorrhage occur and VKDB stops being rare.
Q: What happens when babies have depression levels of vitamin K and get VKDB?
A: Babies without enough vitamin Thou cannot form clots to stop haemorrhage and they can bleed anywhere in their bodies. The haemorrhage can happen in their brains or other important organs and tin can happen chop-chop. Fifty-fifty though bleeding from low levels of vitamin K or VKDB does non occur oftentimes in the Us, it is devastating when it does occur. 1 out of every v babies with VKDB dies . Of the infants who accept late VKDB, about one-half of them take bleeding into their brains, which can lead to permanent brain damage. Others bleed in their tum or intestines, or in other parts of the body. Many of the infants need claret transfusions, and some need surgeries.
Q: I heard that the vitamin K shot might cause cancer. Is this true?
A: No. In the early 1990s, a small report in England establish an "association" between the vitamin Yard shot and babyhood cancer. An association means that ii things are happening at the same time in the same person, but doesn't tell us whether 1 causes the other. Figuring out whether vitamin K might cause childhood cancer was very important because every newborn is expected to get a vitamin Thou shot. If vitamin Yard was causing cancer, we would expect to see the aforementioned association in other groups of children. Scientists looked to see if they could find the aforementioned association in other children, simply this clan betwixt vitamin K and babyhood cancer was never found over again in any other study.
Q: Can the other ingredients in the shot cause problems for my babe? Practice we really know that the vitamin Chiliad shot is safe?
A: Yes, the vitamin K shot is prophylactic. Vitamin G is the main ingredient in the shot. The other ingredients make the vitamin K safe to requite as a shot. One ingredient keeps the vitamin G mixed in the liquid; another keeps the liquid from being too acidic. One of the ingredients is benzyl alcohol, a preservative. Benzyl alcohol is a common ingredient in many medications.
In the 1980s, doctors recognized that very premature infants who were in neonatal intensive intendance units might get sick from benzyl booze toxicity because many of the medicines and fluids needed for their intensive care contained benzyl booze as a preservative. Although the toxicity was only reported for very premature infants, since then doctors have tried to minimize the corporeality of benzyl-alcohol-containing medications they give. Clearly, the pocket-sized corporeality of benzyl alcohol in the vitamin Yard shot is not enough to be dangerous, even when given in combination with other medications that besides incorporate small amounts of this preservative.
Q: The dose of the shot seems high. Is that too much for my babe?
A: No, the dose in the vitamin 1000 shot is not besides much for babies. The dose of vitamin K in the shot is high compared to the daily requirement of vitamin Grand. But retrieve babies don't have much vitamin K when they are born and won't accept a good supply of vitamin K until they are close to 6 months old. This is because vitamin K does non cross the placenta and breast milk has very low levels of vitamin 1000.
The vitamin Grand shot acts in 2 ways to increase the vitamin One thousand levels. Get-go, function of the vitamin K goes into the babe'due south bloodstream immediately and increases the amount of vitamin Thou in the claret. This provides enough vitamin K so that the baby'south levels don't drop dangerously low in the first few days of life. Much of this vitamin Grand gets stored in the liver and it is used by the clotting system. 2nd, the rest of the vitamin K is released slowly over the next 2-3 months, providing a steady source of vitamin K until an infant has another source from his or her diet.
Q: Can I increase vitamin Grand in my breast milk by eating different foods or taking multivitamins or vitamin K supplements?
A: We encourage moms to consume healthy and have multivitamins as needed. Although eating foods high in vitamin M or taking vitamin K supplements can slightly increment the levels of vitamin K in your chest milk, neither can increment levels in breast milk plenty to provide all of the vitamin M an infant needs.
When infants are born, their already depression levels of vitamin M fall even lower. Infants demand enough vitamin K to (a) make up for their extra-low levels, (b) outset storing it in the liver for future use, and (c) ensure expert bone and claret wellness. Breast milk – even from mothers supplementing with vitamin M sources – can't provide enough to do all of these things.
Q: My baby is then footling. What can I do to make the vitamin K shot less painful and traumatic?
A: Babies, just similar the states, feel hurting, and it is important to reduce even small amounts of discomfort. Babies feel less pain from shots if they are held and allowed to suck. You can enquire to agree your baby while the vitamin 1000 shot is given and then that your baby tin be comforted by you. Breastfeeding while the shot is given and immediately after can be comforting besides. All of these are things parents tin can do to ease pain and soothe their baby.
Call back that if your babe does not get the vitamin Grand shot, his or her risk of developing severe bleeding is 81 times higher than if he or she got the shot. Diagnosis and handling of VKDB oft involves many painful procedures, including repeated blood draws.
Q: Overall, what are the risks and benefits of the vitamin Yard shot?
The risks of the vitamin Chiliad shot are the aforementioned risks that are part of getting most any other shot. These include pain or even bruising or swelling at the identify where the shot is given. A few cases of skin scarring at the site of injection have been reported. Only a single case of allergic reaction in an infant has been reported, so this is extremely rare.
Although there accept been concerns about another risks, like a risk for babyhood cancer or risks because of additional ingredients, none of these risks have been proven by scientific studies.
The main benefit of the vitamin G shot is that it tin can protect your babe from VKDB, a unsafe condition that can cause long-term disability or death. In addition, the diagnosis and treatment of VKDB often includes multiple and sometimes painful procedures, such as blood draws, CT scans, blood transfusions, or anesthesia and surgery.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended the Vitamin Yard shot since 1961, and has repeatedly stood by that recommendation because the risks of the shot don't outweigh the risks of VKDB, which are based on decades of show and decades of feel with babies who were hospitalized or died from VKDB.
Your child's doctor is the best person to talk to most vitamin K. Like y'all, your child'southward doctor wants to see your children abound up safe and healthy and wants to back up your efforts to make the best decisions for their health. If y'all accept concerns near vitamin G, talk to your kid's doctor .
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/vitamink/faqs.html#:~:text=Low%20levels%20of%20vitamin%20K%20can%20lead%20to%20dangerous%20bleeding,asked%20questions%20and%20their%20answers.
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