More bleeding episodes in infants have been recorded as parents increasingly refuse to have vitamin K injections administered, a pair of studies found.

The percentage of infants not receiving a vitamin K injection at birth increased from 3.1 percent in 2017 to 6.8 percent in 2025, and not receiving the injection was associated with a higher bleeding risk within six months of birth, researchers said in one of the papers.

“Routine intramuscular vitamin K administration has been highly effective at preventing vitamin K deficiency bleeding in newborns for decades,” Dr. Heather H. Burris, one of the study’s co-authors and a neonatologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a statement.

“Our study is the first to document a nationwide decline in administration paired with increases in bleeding risks. Our findings underscore the importance of continued education and awareness, so families understand the serious, preventable bleeding risks for infants who do not receive vitamin K at birth.”

Another study found that receipt of vitamin K injections in newborns declined from 2017 to 2025, while the rate of vitamin K deficiency and vitamin K-deficient bleeding soared over the same period.

A minority of the infants diagnosed with the conditions received vitamin K, the researchers said.

“We should continue to follow these trends moving forward since the rates of vitamin K deficiency and vitamin-K-deficient bleeding may continue to rise if vitamin K refusal keeps increasing,” Dr. Elizabeth Wolf, a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University and one of the authors of the study, said in a statement. “We need to better understand why parents are refusing vitamin K and what can be done to improve the uptake of this important medication.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend all babies receive a vitamin K shot at birth.

Vitamin K deficiency bleeding in infants can cause bruising, especially around the head and face, or bleeding from the nose or umbilical cord, as well as in areas such as the brain, according to the CDC. Symptoms can include pale skin or gums, yellowish eyes, bloody stool, vomiting, irritability, seizures, or excessive sleepiness.

Loss of Trust?

Previous papers have found a rise in refusal of the shot in recent years, prompting concern from some medical professionals of a heightened risk of vitamin K deficiency bleeding, which can lead to death.

Dr. Joel Warsh, a pediatrician in California who was not involved with the new papers, told The Epoch Times in an email that he generally recommends vitamin K shots for newborns because evidence shows those who do not receive one face a greater risk of serious bleeding.

“I think the much bigger story here is the growing lack of trust in medicine. Over the past several years, especially during COVID, so many parents have felt pressured, dismissed, or forced into medical decisions,” Warsh said. “Whether everyone agrees with those feelings or not, they are real, and the consequences are becoming increasingly obvious. Many parents no longer trust pharmaceutical companies, public health agencies, or even their own doctors. And that distrust doesn’t necessarily stop at vaccines. It can extend to almost any medical intervention, including something as longstanding as newborn vitamin K.”

Warsh said the solution is having honest conversations with parents about the risks and benefits of medical interventions.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC’s parent agency, told The Epoch Times via email that the vitamin K injection should be given within six hours of birth to prevent bleeding.

“Uptake of the birth dose has declined in recent years as public trust in healthcare institutions has fallen, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic amid heavy-handed mandates and inconsistent messaging during the Biden administration,” the spokesperson said. “Rebuilding that trust requires honesty, informed consent, and respect for individual choice.”

More on New Papers

The new papers were published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and JAMA Pediatrics.

In the one co-authored by Burris, the researchers looked at data from Epic Systems Corporation’s Cosmos platform, which contains patient records from more than 2,000 hospitals and 49,000 clinics across all 50 states. The researchers noted that not receiving the vitamin K shot was associated with higher rates of bleeding, but that instances also increased among infants who did receive the shot.

“While reasons for this trend are unclear, it could reflect increased ascertainment or sicker maternal-infant dyads,” they wrote. “Interestingly, bleeding risk has risen faster among infants with vitamin K nonreceipt, suggesting that ascertainment, co-occurring pathology, or treatment patterns may differ by vitamin K receipt. While studies to disentangle differential temporal trends may be warranted, there remains a strong association between nonreceipt of vitamin K and bleeding.”

Limitations included the study excluding infants born at less than 35 weeks gestation.

Conflicts of interest included one of the researchers receiving grants from Pfizer, which manufactures a vitamin K shot. Funding came from the National Institutes of Health.

The other set of researchers also used Cosmos and excluded infants born at less than 35 weeks of gestation. They identified the share of newborns receiving a vitamin K injection dropping from 97.7 percent to 95 percent between 2017 and 2025. According to this study, about 60 percent of infants diagnosed with vitamin K deficiency and 81 percent of those diagnosed with vitamin K deficiency bleeding had not received a shot of vitamin K.

“Although association does not prove causality, the data raise concerns about increased parental rejection of vitamin K injections and potential harm to infants,” the researchers said.

Funding came from the Children’s Hospital Foundation, associated with the Children’s Hospital of Richmond. No conflicts of interest were reported.