the vitamin k injection

[*noni*e*]

so whats the go with this? the hospital gave me a brochur on it but its pretty unhelpful really i mean it says if i dnt give it my baby may end up with vkdb but it dosn't really explain what this is or what will happen if my baby gets it??? they say what to watch out for eg bruising or bleeding but they don't say whats going to happen to the baby can anyone help me out here?

[Rachel]

Hi *noni*e*, vitamin K is an important part of the clotting cascade, without it our blood won't clot properly and therefore we are prone to excess bleeding which can be potentially life threatening. Babies are not born with enough vitamin k and don't get enough from breast milk so there fore they are at higher risk of bleeding as they can't clot their blood as easily. If this happens the bleeding can be potentially life threatening as they can bleed internally and you not know. It is strongly recommended post labours with intervention such as suction or forceps due to the trauma inflicted on the baby which can cause bleeding, but it is recommended that all babies are given it just in case. Hope this has been of some help.

[*noni*e*]

huge help it said no where in the thing whether or not i really needed to get it iykwim so it was like why do i need it?

[Trillian]

Noni, if you don't like the idea of a little baby getting an injection, the Vitamin K can be given as an oral dose too.

[*noni*e*]

yeah i know the only reason i didn't like the idea was because the pamphlet they gave me that was supposed to convince me really didn't explain anything or tell me what would happen if i didn't get it iykwim?

[BellyBelly]

It's worth doing your research into it though, there are pro's and cons. It does make me ponder why every single baby is born that way - did mother nature intend for us to invent an injection to combat this? You can supplement your diet with vitamin K prior to birth though and like I say, pros for both Yet another decision

[LizzysMum]

This time I am asking for the oral dose of Vit K and I am going to use my diet to up the Vit K before birth.

I am also not sure if ALL babies are born with the deficiency, I was told that it is given to all babies only because they used to give it when our diets were poor and often babies would be born deficient - and now it has just become accepted.

I will try and go find some more info on this as I am have not been convinced it is necessary if you have a good diet and don't have a traumatic delivery.

I don't want the first thing that happens to my baby to be an injection that is not absolutely necessary.

[*noni*e*]

is the injection straight after they are born or when ur leaving the hospital? is it the same with the hep b one? straight after birth?

[visitor1]

DD had hers about 3 hours after she was born, same time she had her Hep B shot.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

DS had his whilst Iwas in recovery after DH had left - maybe 3-4 hours old. DH and I agreed during pregnancy that we weren't going to introduce artificial things to DS unless needed, and as we ended up with a ventouse it was needed, so I let him have an injection. If we had a less traumatic birth then we wouldn't have had it - you can make up your mind on the day.

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

Does the oral dose and the injection have the same desired effect? A couple in our class were really concerned about the vitamin K as there are links to childhood leukemia. They couldn't find any research that ruled out the risk to childhood leukemia and were tossing up the risks with the bleeding. Our teacher wasn't of much assistance. It is all so confusing.

[Rachel]

They do have the same desired effect but you require multiple doses of the oral form (can't recall how many) whereas you only need one injection. If baby gets sick or vomits immediately after oral dose then the dose doesn't work. Just something to think about, I know we don't like to inflict pain on our children but do you remember the injections you received as a baby? I don't. Just food for thought.

[Ozziehoffy]

We were the same as Ryn. We were leaning towards not having it done unless necessary which we believe was once he had to be vacuum assisted. It was highly recommended due to bruising incurred. I say speak some more to either OB or midwife and you don't have to make your final decision until the time anyway cos as we know sometimes things do change therefore our final decision may also change.

[BellyBelly]

Here's a couple of discussions I have found online.

http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/vitktop.html
http://www.radmid.demon.co.uk/vitk.htm

Only you can make the choice, and know you did the best thing with the situation and information you had. Can't ask for more than that.

[Pandora]

Milo had both vit K and hep b shots. He had one on day 2 and the other on day 3 (at my request)

[Karina]

We got injection, about 2 or 3 hours after she was born, also done at the same tme was the Hep B shot. I had the injection because with the oral dose, they told me I had to do the third oral dose myself at home and for some wierd reason I thought I wouldnt be able to do that. No idea why, so I got the injection instead. She also had a massive bruise on her head so I am glad she got the injection

[Trish]

I chose not to have it with Tehya. She had a totally normal and gentle birth. She had no bruising at all and did not feel that it was necessary. If she had of had a more traumatic birth eg forceps then I would have given it to her.

[Ellibam]

Vitamin K is formed in the stomach when we eat, thats why babies dont have any as they dont really eat, It only takes a couple of days to be made once any form of feeding has been started. also there has been a huge increase in childhood cancers since it has been introduced as a regular drug.(all this info came from my mum who is a midwife of 30+ years and has seen it come in and out)

We didnt give Makon this as 1 we didn't have truamatic birth so no bruising, 2 i had been leaking colostorum since 17 weeks so knew that there was no issue with feeding him
of course if we had a vontuse or forcep delivery he would have been given it.