MONDAY, March 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Parental vitamin K refusal is uncommon but rising in the United States and internationally and poses a substantial neurological risk to newborns, according to research scheduled for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, to be held from April 18 to 22 in Chicago.
Beatriz De Faria Sousa, from Florida International University in Miami, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to examine recent trends in parental vitamin K refusal and the neurological consequences among newborns.
Based on 25 studies, the researchers found that although refusal in the United States remained low (<1 percent in most hospitals), upward trends were evident. Rates rose from 0.9 percent in 2015 to 1.6 percent in 2019 in Minnesota. Refusal ranged from 0.2 to 1.3 percent for 2018 to 2019 in California, Connecticut, and Iowa, with more than half of providers perceiving increases. Parental refusal was 1 to 3 percent in Canada, New Zealand, and Scotland, but as high as >30 percent in some birthing centers. Risk factors for refusal included home birth, midwife care, and "natural" philosophies. Late vitamin K deficiency bleeding was 81 times more likely in infants without intramuscular vitamin K prophylaxis. Across the studies, approximately 63 percent of infants presented with intracranial hemorrhage, approximately 14 percent died, and approximately 40 percent of survivors sustained neurological disability. Refusal also predicted later health care hesitancy, with refusers in Canada 14.6 times more likely to be unimmunized at 15 months. Similar trends were seen in New Zealand, where being unimmunized was 14.1 times more likely following refusal. In the United States, parents who refused vitamin K were 90 times more likely to refuse hepatitis B vaccination and ocular prophylaxis. Reported parental concerns included pain, preservatives, and misinformation.
"Our findings point to an urgent need for health care professionals to provide prenatal counseling to parents to ensure they understand that vitamin K can dramatically reduce preventable brain injury and its lifelong impact," coauthor Kate Semidey, M.D., also from Florida International University, said in a statement.