Vit K and Hep B Injections Opinions

[juleswa]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering everyone's opinion on these. I know the Vit K shot has been around for ages, but think the Hep B is fairly new and I'm not sure on this one.

Thought I'd ask and see what everyone else was doing / thinking.

Thanks

[Trillian]

The Hep B one has been around for a while too, not sure exactly how long though. it isn't a big deal if you choose not to have them done. Some choose not to give so as to not traumatise the baby, others choose not to because they don't see it as necessary in a healthy baby. I did get all of my babies done though, so I am not anti-vaccination, but I am pro-choice for parents who choose to not have them done. You could try picking up a copy of Just a Little Pr1ck which isn't biased at all towards it whereas any info you get from your Dr/hospital etc will be very biased towards it.

[Lulu]

Do yourself a favour and check out how and why Hep B is transmitted, then you can make an informed choice about whether your bubs will need it.

Have a bit of look around the forum too, there are a few reasons posted why some do and some don't. I chose not to for any of mine, the kids would not be in a situation that required it.

xoxoxoxo

[meow]

The birth dose of hep b only lasts 8 weeks- it is not the first in a course of shots. Given that, we declined it as I didn't see my son at risk in the first 8 weeks.

We were going to do the vit k orally simply to avoid needles but he had large bruising and swelling on his head from pushing on my pelvis so we decided to do it by injection as it gives the complete dose and made sure he was covered. We were happy to decide that on a case basis as vit k is mainly only important in traumatic births.

HTH. Do some reading and you can find good info on these to make your own choice.

[Mad Scientist]

We decided for the Hep B injection as a "just in case". We knew that our bub wouldn't be in a situation that would pose a risk but we thought, "what would happen if we couldn't control a situation?" Very rare but in the end we decided to. The vit K injection has been said to be more effective as it is absorbed more quickly and totally. Some say that there is no difference. I recommend reading up on this one. We decided for the injection after reading information. all this is just my experience but I hope it helps :-)

[principessa76]

We got both the Vit K and Hep B.

The Hep B is the first in a series of vaccinations. We were told that better immunity was developed by getting the vaccination early and that bub would not need boosters later on in life as we've had to have.

[Trish]

I got neither for Tehya or Abbey. Do your research and make an informed decision. Once you've given it you can't go back.

[BellyBelly]

I have had clients from overseas (Singapore, Italy etc) who dont do vitamin K as its not standard in their own countries and dont think its necessary. I think pretty much all of my clients defer hep b to two months or dont have it at all.

[LimeSlice]

We didnt get either.
If you BF, the VitK can be passed through your milk - so lots of Asparagus, cauliflower immediately before and after birth if you are really concerned. The VitK injection is synthetic also, and the other ingredients in teh shot put us off.
As for the HepB we just didnt feel she was at risk.

Google it and do you reasearch. Remember that your doctor will always tell you to do it, so go in armed with information if you refuse to have them done.

GL

[Beach Mama]

We had the Vit K shot for her, but our midwife on duty basically told us that they have to offer the hep B shot to everyone, although there are only certain babies that are at risk, (IV drug users etc) so we chose to wait until she was 8 weeks when she had her other immunisations.
Good luck making your decision and as everyone here has said it is a personal choice and one that there is lots of info out there about.

[satya]

At this stage I'm thinking I'll be going with both of them. I'll probably do a bit more research though before I make my final decision.

One of the midwives said it's necessary in our area due to the high proportion of Hep B affected immigrants in the local population. I didn't question it at the time, but I'm thinking that she's meaning if bubs needs a blood transfusion some contaminated blood could get through the system.... not really sure to be honest. I'll have to ask my OB at the next visit.

For Vitamin K I believe that two studies in the 1990's found that giving Vitamin K to a newborn could increase the chances of childhood cancers. I've also read that this has never been shown in any study done since. Some researchers believe that lack of Vitamin K could be the cause of cancer and that it should be used to fight cancer. It's so hard to make a decision on this stuff when one study says one thing and another says the opposite. I'm pretty sure I'll go ahead with this vaccination though as there's no way to predict if your bubs will have the deficiency and it could be too late when the bleed occurs.

[~clover~]

I personally have had every vaccination for my kids. Jazmyne didn't have the Hep B though as it wasn't around then.
The way I see it I'd rather be safe than sorry. I can't see our kids being at any risk of hep B, but you just don't know for sure.
Each to their own though.

[Lulu]

You could get hepatitis B by

having sex with an infected person without using a condom
sharing drug needles
having a tattoo or body piercing done with dirty tools that were used on someone else
getting pr!cked with a needle that has infected blood on it (health care workers can get hepatitis B this way)
living with someone who has hepatitis B
sharing a toothbrush or razor with an infected person
traveling to countries where hepatitis B is common

An infected woman can give hepatitis B to her baby at birth.
You can NOT get hepatitis B by
shaking hands with an infected person
hugging an infected person
sitting next to an infected person


I thought I'd paste this in as I was trying to remember the reasons I didn't give HepB.
I just cant see the kids being in this situation.

[Junglemum]

Remember that your doctor will always tell you to do it, so go in armed with information if you refuse to have them done

My Dr didn't tell me to do it. He said it was my choice. We chose not to have HepB, had the VitK, he didn't have a problem with that at all. Not all Dr's are the same.

[Beach Mama]

Thanks for the info Lulu - very interesting hun.

[Matryoshka]

I gave both last time as i wasn't confident enough not to. This time not giving Hep B as i can't see how bubs will even remotely be at risk, i doubt we'll even leave the house in the first 2 months.

But one thing i wanted to double check is what are the perceived benefits of Vit k?

[LimeSlice]

Mumma B - Vit K is given at birth as a child is born with very little or no VitK. Vit K is responsible for blood clotting primarily. The injection is given to cover the risk of the infant suffering a haemeroging (sp?) disorder that can occur in the first month after birth. It is a very serious occurance, however it is also quite rare. (The stats are available if you look for them)
Vit K is fat soluble, meaning it can be transmitted through breast milk. So it can be passed in some quantity to the child immediately after birth.

[paradise lost]

Hep B is not offered in the UK unless your baby is at risk, i.e. if one of the people it lives with or its mother have Hep B. Hep B can be sexually transmitted or transmitted by IV drug abuse but once you have it, you have it. So if you took IV drugs or had unprotected sex many years before, even though your lifestyle is no longer risky, if you have Hep B your risk factor remains. In the UK all pregnant women are tested for Hep B and HIV anyway, so you know before the birth if you need to get the vaccine (vaccination at birth prevents the baby getting it from being born to a HepB+ mother). If you decline it at birth it is still a part of the infant vaccination programme anyway. If i were in the position of it being offered at birth i'd opt out until the routine vaccinations began, since that is only 8 weeks later.

Vit K deficiency can cause a catastrophic clotting malfunction which causes the baby to suddenly haemorhage internally. It is very very rare (somewhere around 0.03% i think) but traumatic and injurious births (especially with bruising/wounds) make it more of a danger, because the Vit K in the baby's system is used up at the time of injury and the sudden lack of it (it is available in breastmilk but in small amounts, not the amounts found in the vaccine) causes sudden bleeding. Most babies who suffer the bleeding die, and those who do not frequently suffer severe brain damage from strokes. Some babies who suffer the bleeding DID NOT have a traumatic birth.

There have been exhaustive studies about the risk factors of Vit K. A few (mentioned by satya above) found a casual statistical link between cities where the uptake of Vit K had been high and childhood cancers. More recently (2005 onwards) childhood leukemia has been shown in most cases to have been caused by infection, in much the same way cervical cancer is. The infections which can cause it are more numerous and less diagnosable, but the link was clear to show that cities where large population shifts (such as an influx of foreign labour force) had occured had higher incidences of childhood cancers, indicating that the immune system's response to unfamiliar infections CAN be a reason for the malfunction which makes the body make cancerous blood cells. These cities were also places where VitK uptake was high - proving the original link was correct, but showing the reason for it was more complex.

At the moment the WHO states that the Vit K injection is safe for babies, though many will not strictly need it.

We decided to have the Vit K. I weighed all my vaccination pros against cons. There has been no scientifically-demonstrated negative effect of Vit K so far. The scientifically demonstrated effect of Vit K deficiency is a high risk of death or lasting, serious injury. I do not accept those as a reasonable outcome so i opted to remove the risk (i know this sounds dramatic, but i did the same for varicella - only i don't consider Chicken Pox to be so serious or risky i'd put DD through an extra needle when the vaccine is only 70% effective, so she didn't have it). I chose to have the VitK given at birth. I have friends who gave it orally and it made their baby gag (must taste bad?) and led to some (a few hours only) breast refusal afterwards, and i decided one needle would be better (for US) than 3 chokey doses. Also that i wanted to BF and i didn't want to have any bad associations made with DD's mouth until she was a good feeder.

Best of luck with your decision!

Bx