Dangerous Newborn Bleeding Nearly Double As More Parents Skip Vitamin K Shot

Cases of a dangerous bleeding disorder in newborns nearly doubled last year as more parents turned down a routine vitamin K shot at birth, new research shows.

The study, published Thursday in JAMA Pediatrics, looked at health records for more than 11 million U.S. infants, The Washington Post reported.

Cases of vitamin K deficiency bleeding rose from 189 in 2017 to 903 in 2024. Then in 2025, they jumped to 1,764. Most of the babies affected hadn’t received the shot, the researchers found.

Meanwhile, the share of newborns getting the shot slipped from 98% to 95%.

Vitamin K helps blood clot. Babies are born with very little of it, and breast milk supplies only small amounts, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains. Without enough, a baby can bleed heavily, sometimes into the brain.

About 1 in 5 babies who have a stroke from this bleeding die, lead author Dr. Elizabeth Wolf, an associate professor of pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University, told The Post. Of those who survive, 40% are left with lasting brain or nerve problems.

“We’ve gone generations without seeing this kind of increase in complications,” said study co-author Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor of family medicine and population health at the university. “It’s very disheartening to see that progress in public health rolling back.”

Babies who skip the shot are 81 times more likely to develop the bleeding disorder, the CDC says. The shot is safe and has been given routinely at birth since 1961.

The most serious form of the disorder usually strikes two to eight weeks after birth, often in babies who are only breastfed. 

In most cases, there are no warning signs before a major bleed. In the few cases where there are signs, they can include a bulging soft spot on the head, unexplained bruising, nosebleeds, yellow or pale skin and fussiness or trouble feeding.

The researchers said they can’t prove what’s behind the refusals. But the trend tracks with rising doubt about vaccines and public health advice, which they said recent federal moves to overhaul childhood vaccine schedules have helped fuel, The Post reported. 

Some parents mistake the vitamin K shot for a vaccine, though it isn’t one.

In a statement to The Post, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services backed the CDC’s advice to give the shot within six hours of birth. It blamed falling trust on pandemic-era mandates and mixed messages under the Biden administration.

Democratic lawmakers have pointed to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said at an April hearing that he’d never spoken about vitamin K.

Vitamin K can also be given by mouth, said Dr. Howard Gill, chairman of pediatrics at Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who wasn’t involved in the study. 

But oral doses are seen as less effective than the shot, and babies may need several doses.

Still, Wolf and Woolf wrote that offering oral vitamin K could help limit harm when parents won’t accept the injection.

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more information about vitamin K and newborns.

SOURCES: The Washington Post, Nov. 5, 2026; U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jan. 17, 2025