Here's something I've never read before--maybe because we give Vit K
injections to newborns within 1 hr of delivery in this country.

I just read an article from The Journal of the American Dietetic Association
written by Samuel Fomon in which he states that, "Because the intake of
vitamin K is much less by breastfed than by formula-fed infants, vitamin K
deficiency of the newborn is almost exclusively a disease of breastfed
infants."  I was taught that vit K injections were given so that baby boys
could be circumcized without excessive blood loss.  That is why traditionally
Jewish boys are not circumcized until the 8th day--to allow their gut time to
manufacture vit K to minimize bleeding.  I have never gotten an answer as to
why baby girls should be given vit K at all.

Is vit K deficiency manifested in other ways besides an inability to clot
properly?  This guy's recommendation is that, "Every infant should be given an
injection of vitamin K as soon as possible after birth" but then he goes on to
comment on how big a problem this is for breastfed infants.  Is this just
another example of how "Mother Nature forgot something essential but
fortunately for us all Mead Johnson has taken up the slack"?  Seems to me
there were an awful lot of people in this world prior to injecting newborns
with vit K.  Just another example of how professionals make breastmilk appear
"incomplete."  Also from the way this is written, it implies an ongoing
problem for breastfeeding babies.  Once we start producing our own vit K in
our intestinal tracts, do we need further supplementation?

Is hemorrhagic disease in the neonatal period really that common without vit K
administration?  How long would it naturally take for vit K production to
reach optimal levels in a breastfed infant not injected post birth? And why
don't we use the oral version used in Europe?  I've never seen a newborn who
cared much for being stabbed in the leg right after being born.

P.D. Gordon, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Delaware Division of Public Health--WIC Program
Breastfeeding Coordinator
(302) 739-4614
1-800-222-2189

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