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Be sure the vitamin K shot is given at birth

  • Top value
  • Evidence B
  • Buys life
  • For: Child under 3, Pregnant or trying
  • Free
  • Takes minutes
  • No willpower

In plain words

A newborn has very little vitamin K stored. Without a supplement, there can be bleeding, and the late-onset kind is often bleeding in the brain. In places where this shot is not given routinely, 478 in every 100,000 (10万) newborns get this bleeding. The shot is estimated to cut it by more than 78%. Proper hospitals in China give it routinely, and for a birth at home or at an irregular facility, ask on your own whether it was given.

Cost

0 yuan to a few dozen yuan. This is usually already included in the cost of the hospital delivery, with nothing separate to pay.

What you get

A newborn has very little vitamin K in the body. Without a supplement, vitamin K deficiency bleeding can occur, and the late-onset kind often shows up as intracranial bleeding (bleeding in the brain). The Belgian consensus recommends "one intramuscular injection of 1 or 2 mg of vitamin K at birth." In regions with no systematic prevention, the rate of vitamin K deficiency bleeding is 478 cases per 100,000 (10万) people, a figure from 42,000 (4.2万) newborns in Tashkent. The authors estimate that prevention lowers the rate by "more than 78.5%."

Notes

If you give birth at a proper hospital in China, the hospital routinely gives this shot and you don't need to worry about it. If you give birth at home or at an irregular facility, check on your own. The oral form works less well than the shot, and the shot here means an injection into the muscle.

Evidence grade
B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.
Sources
  1. Fiesack S, Smits A, Rayyan M, et al. (2021). Nutrients, 13(11), 4109. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13114109
  2. Tursunov D, Yoshida Y, Yrysov K, et al. (2018). Nagoya Journal of Medical Science, 80(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.18999/nagjms.80.1.11

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 20, tip 7. This section is about health and medicines. It is general information, not a substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis or prescription. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer