It’s not just vaccines — parents are refusing other routine preventive care for newborns

One day in a hospital in Idaho, half the patients newborns Dr. Tom Patterson found that he did not understand: Vitamin K shots It has been given to babies for decades to prevent potentially fatal bleeding. On another recent day, more than a quarter failed to get the vaccine. Their parents wouldn’t allow it.

“When you look at an innocent and defenseless child and see a simple intervention that has been done since 1961 being denied, it’s very alarming to me to know that the baby is coming into the world,” said Patterson, who has been a pediatrician for almost three decades.

Doctors across the country have become alarmed that skepticism fueled by growing anti-science and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other proven, routine, preventive care for babies.

A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which analyzed more than 5 million births nationwide, found that the rejection rate for vitamin K vaccines nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024, from 2.9% to 5.2%. Other research suggests that parents who refuse vitamin K vaccines are much more likely to refuse to give their newborn children the hepatitis B vaccine and eye ointment to prevent potentially blinding infections. Rates of this vaccine at birth have fallen in recent years, and doctors confirm that more parents are rejecting the eye drug.

Philadelphia neonatologist Dr. “I think these families care so much about their babies,” Kelly Wade said. “But I have heard from families that it is difficult to decide right now because they are hearing conflicting information.”

Numerous social media posts question doctors’ recommendations for safe and effective measures such as vitamin K and eye ointment. And the Trump administration repeatedly undermined established science. A. federal advisory committee Its members include Surgeon General Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was a leading anti-vaccine activist before joining the administration. The appointee voted to end vaccination. long standing suggestion Vaccinating all babies against hepatitis B immediately after birth. on Monday A federal judge temporarily blocked all decisions made by the restructured committee.

Seattle pediatrician and researcher Dr. David Hill said the common thread connecting anti-vaccine views and growing sentiment against other protective measures for newborns is the misconception that natural is always better than artificial.

“Nature allows 1 in 5 human babies to die in the first year of life,” Hill said, “so generations of scientists and doctors have worked to bring that number much, much lower.”

Vitamin K and other precautions prevent serious problems

Babies are born with low levels of vitamin K, leaving them vulnerable because their intestines cannot produce enough until they start eating solid foods at about 6 months of age.

The JAMA study’s lead author, Dr. “Vitamin K is important for helping blood clot and preventing dangerous bleeding such as brain hemorrhage in babies,” said Kristan Scott.

Before injections became routine, about 1 in 60 babies had vitamin K deficiency bleeding, which can also affect the gastrointestinal tract. This condition is rare today, but research shows that the likelihood of severe bleeding in newborn babies who have not been vaccinated with vitamin K is 81 times higher than in those who have been vaccinated.

Hill saw what could happen.

“I was caring for a young child whose parents had chosen this risk,” the Seattle doctor said. The child actually suffered a stroke as a newborn and was left with severe developmental delays and ongoing seizures.

At a February meeting of the Idaho chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, doctors were aware of eight deaths from bleeding caused by vitamin K deficiency in the state in the past 13 months, said Patterson, who is the division’s president.

Infections prevented by other precautions for newborns can also have serious consequences. Erythromycin eye ointment protects against gonorrhea, which can be contracted during birth and can potentially cause blindness if left untreated. Hepatitis B vaccine prevents a disease that can lead to liver failure, liver cancer, or cirrhosis.

Dr. D., a pediatrician in Highland Park, Illinois. Susan Sirota said that even if a pregnant woman is tested for gonorrhea and hepatitis B, no test is perfect and the woman may become infected after the test. In both cases, she risks passing the infection to her child.

Why do parents refuse routine care?

Parents give many reasons for turning down preventative measures; for example, fearing that it might cause problems and not wanting newborn babies to feel pain.

“Some will say they want more of a natural birth philosophy,” she said Dr. Steven AbelowitzFounder of Ocean Pediatrics in Orange County, California. “And then there’s tons of misinformation… There are outside influences, friends, celebrities, non-professionals, and political agendas.”

Abelowitz operates in a district with roughly equal shares of Republicans and Democrats.

“There’s more distrust on the conservative side, but there’s also a lot of distrust on the more liberal side,” he said, “It’s a general distrust.”

Social media provides plenty of fuel, spreading myths and pushing uncontrolled drops of vitamin K that doctors warn babies won’t absorb well.

Doctors in many states say parents who refuse vitamin K shots often reject other measures as well. Sirota in Illinois encountered a family who refused a heel stick to test the blood sugar of a baby who was at high risk of having life-threatening low blood sugar.

Denial of care is not a new phenomenon. Wade, in Philadelphia, said he’s seen them for 20 years. But until recently these were rare.

Twelve years ago, Dana Morrison, now a Minnesota doula, refused her newborn son a vitamin K shot and gave him oral drops instead.

“It came from a time where I really wanted to preserve bonding time with my baby,” she said. “I was trying to eliminate any more poking.”

A few years later, her daughter’s birth was less easy and the baby was left with a bruise on her leg. Morrison had a vitamin K shot for him.

He said he would buy this for his son now that he knew what he was doing.

Doctors and parents want ‘the best for their children’

Doctors hope to change their minds, one parent at a time. And that starts with respect.

“If I walk into the room with common sense, we’re going to have a really useless conversation,” Hill said. “Every parent I serve wants the best for their child.”

When parents question the necessity of vitamin K vaccination, Dr. Heather Felton tries to address their specific concerns. It explains why it is given and the risks of not receiving it. Felton, who hasn’t seen any increase in rejections, said most families have decided to take it.

“It really helps when you can take the time and really listen and provide some education,” said Felton, a pediatrician at Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.

In Idaho, Patterson sometimes finds himself clearing up misunderstandings. For example, some parents accept the vitamin K vaccine when they learn that it is not a vaccine.

These conversations can take time, especially since the parents doctors see in hospitals are often not people they know from their offices.

But doctors are happy to spend the time if it can save the babies.

“I end every discussion I have with parents with, ‘Please understand at the end of the day, I’m passionate about this issue because I have the kids’ best interests in mind and in my heart,'” Patterson said. “I understand this is a hot topic and I mean no disrespect to anyone. But I’m also deeply saddened that we lost our babies for no reason.”

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