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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 Tashkent, where this prevention was not widely done, 478 in every 100,000 (10ไธ‡) newborns got this bleeding. Prevention is estimated to cut it by more than 78%. If you give birth at home or at an irregular facility, ask on your own whether the shot 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 (10ไธ‡) people, a figure from 42,000 (4.2ไธ‡) 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 generally gives this shot routinely. This is the author's experience; no uniform official rule across China was found. Before discharge, look at the discharge summary or ask. If you give birth at home or at an irregular facility, check on your own. The shot here means an injection into the muscle. The Belgian consensus calls the oral form a "slightly inferior alternative," to be used only when parents refuse the injection: 2 mg at birth, then for breastfed babies 1 to 2 mg more each week for 3 months.

    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

    This tip also appears in

    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 doctorโ€™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