THURSDAY, Dec. 18, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- The proportion of newborns not receiving intramuscular vitamin K increased from 2017 to 2024, according to a research letter published online Dec. 8 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Kristan Scott, M.D., from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of newborns to examine whether the proportion not receiving intramuscular vitamin K has increased in recent years. Data were contributed from 403 hospitals across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The researchers found that 3.92 percent of 5,096,633 newborns did not receive intramuscular vitamin K, with an increase from 2.92 to 5.18 percent from 2017 to 2024. Over time, there was no significant change in maternal or infant characteristics. Associations were seen for race and ethnicity, with highest rates observed among non-Hispanic White and other or unknown populations, and for vaginal birth. Throughout the study, there was an increase in the multivariable-adjusted percentages of newborns not receiving vitamin K, from 2.57 to 4.62 percent from 2017 to 2024.
"There may be a growing perception among parents that vitamin K is unnecessary," Scott said in a statement. "Unfortunately, opting out of vitamin K for a newborn is akin to gambling with a child's health, forgoing a straightforward and safe measure that effectively prevents severe complications."