A growing number of parents are declining the standard vitamin K injection for their newborns, which significantly heightens the danger of preventable brain damage in infants, as revealed by an initial systematic review unveiled on February 26, 2026. This research is slated for presentation at the American Academy of Neurology’s 78th Annual Meeting, scheduled from April 18 to 22, 2026, in Chicago and accessible online.
The vitamin K shot serves as a vital supplement that delivers this crucial nutrient to babies, who are born with naturally low levels of it. Importantly, this is not a vaccine but rather a necessary aid for proper blood clotting. Administering the vitamin K injection immediately after birth plays a critical role in preventing a rare yet potentially devastating disorder known as vitamin K deficiency bleeding. This serious condition can trigger an intracerebral hemorrhage—a form of stroke resulting from a ruptured blood vessel in the brain—that may lead to fatal outcomes or enduring neurological complications.
“The vitamin K injection given at birth has been proven safe and highly effective,” explained lead study author Kate Semidey, MD, from Florida International University in Miami. “Although refusals remain relatively rare in the United States, with rates typically below 1% in most hospitals, our comprehensive review indicates a noticeable uptick in parental refusals in recent years. This development is alarming, particularly since our analysis shows that newborns who miss out on this injection face an 81-fold increased risk of suffering from vitamin K deficiency bleeding.”
To conduct this systematic review, the research team meticulously examined 25 studies spanning two decades of data from around the world. These investigations covered topics such as rates of vitamin K refusal, occurrences of vitamin K deficiency bleeding and their consequences, the motivations behind parental decisions to decline the shot, and potential correlations with broader patterns of vaccine hesitancy.
The findings highlighted specific trends in refusal rates across various regions. For instance, in Minnesota, the percentage of parents opting out climbed from 0.9% in 2015 to 1.6% by 2019. Similarly, in states like California, Connecticut, and Iowa, refusal rates during 2018 and 2019 fluctuated between 0.2% and 1.3%, and more than half of the hospital personnel surveyed reported observing an upward trend in these refusals.
On the international front, the data showed refusal rates varying from 1% to 3% in locations such as Canada, New Zealand, and Scotland. However, in certain birthing centers, these rates soared dramatically above 30%, underscoring significant regional disparities in parental acceptance of this standard procedure.
Delving deeper into the consequences, the researchers analyzed case series involving infants diagnosed with vitamin K deficiency bleeding. Shockingly, around 14% of these babies did not survive. Approximately 40% endured lasting neurological impairments, including challenges like cognitive delays, recurrent seizures, or difficulties with motor skills. Furthermore, about 63% of the affected infants experienced brain hemorrhages, illustrating the profound and multifaceted risks associated with forgoing the shot.
The study also uncovered compelling links between vitamin K refusal and reluctance to adhere to other essential newborn care protocols. In the United States, parents who declined the vitamin K shot were 90 times more inclined to also reject the hepatitis B vaccine and the prophylactic eye ointment designed to shield newborns from infections that could result in blindness. In Canada, such parents showed a 15-fold greater likelihood of having unvaccinated children by the age of 15 months. Comparable patterns emerged in New Zealand, where the odds were 14 times higher for skipping vaccinations.
Parents cited a range of concerns for their decisions, including fears over the discomfort caused by the injection, worries about preservatives in the formulation, and adherence to misinformation circulating about the shot’s safety and necessity.
“Our research underscores the pressing requirement for healthcare providers to engage expectant parents in thorough prenatal discussions,” emphasized Semidey. “These conversations must clearly convey how the vitamin K shot can substantially mitigate the chances of avoidable brain injuries and the devastating, lifelong consequences they often entail.”
It’s worth noting a key limitation of this review: since it synthesized data from existing published studies rather than conducting a prospective longitudinal follow-up of individual infants, it cannot pinpoint the precise risk level for any single baby. Nonetheless, the aggregated evidence paints a stark picture of the heightened vulnerabilities involved.
