I certainly did not intend my objections to your post to come over as a personal attack and i do apologise if that's how it seemed.

I was not told my baby would die if she did not have Vit K. No-one stated or implied that i was putting my baby's life at risk if i didn't take the Vit K. I was told that some newborns have a clotting disorder which often only comes to light fairly catastrophically, that it is very very rare and breastfeeding can prevent it in many cases and that a drug available orally or by injection was available to completely remove the risk. I then went away and researched to see what was in Vit K and what risks were associated with having the vaccine (none - the studies are flawed and their findings are insignificant enough to be anomalies). From that my baby and her father decided we would accept Vitamin K for Esme at birth and that the injection would work for us best as we felt the benefits of the immediacy of the cover offered by it outweighed the pain of the needle. Because she was born at home this was the only needle-stick she had for the first week. The heelp rick test was done on day 8 and her hearing test, another (IMO) mini-ordeal, was done at 4 weeks (by which time it was patently obvious to me that she could hear).

I think that the reasons given to people pro vitamin K aren't valid or real for most of the population and I think very little information is given to women to show a clear picture of the of vit K.
blanket vaccination of this kind is pretty thoughtless. Why would you stress your newborn baby's liver out of all proportion if you hadn't clearly thought through your reasons.
I believe i was given a clear picture of both the risks and the benefits. I am in the UK where the NHS is both over-stretched and very accountable. Our health system simply cannot afford to have unnecessary drugs handed out to all. People die in this country because their NHS trust cannot afford the newest cancer drugs. People have been awarded 6 and more figure sums in compensation due to mistakes made by the NHS. I do not believe a health system in this state is vaccinating children to the detriment of their health, spending money to cause problems it would have to pay for many times over in compensation.

Blanket vaccinations of diseases such as smallpox and polio have saved thousands upon thousands of lives.

I would like to see reputable studies which provide medical evidence for the assertion that Vit K vaccinations stress newborns livers "out of all proportion". And also what "all proportion" means to you (since that is subjective).

I know many people who choose not to vacinate their children. That is their decision. I also know that in many countries people lose many of their children to death before they're out of infancy to illnesses for which vaccines exist. Esme had her MMR last week. I read, i researched, i agonised. In the end i decided that the evidence leaned heavily in favour of vaccinating against these illnesses. The risks of the illnesses are small, the risks of the vaccine are miniscule. I suppose if nothing else, my DD's immunity makes it less likely that the unvaccinated children will contract these illnesses in the first place and that, for me, is a form of social responsibility i am happy to accept.

Bec