JAMA: US newborns without the vitamin K shot rose from 3.1% to 6.8% in 2017–2025

Two new publications in JAMA, released on November 5, 2026, report that parents in the U.S. are increasingly declining the vitamin K injection for newborns, according to newswise.com. Experts from Hackensack Meridian Children's Health, who were not involved in the studies, offered comment on the results. newswise.comnewswise.comnewswise.comOpen source ↗

What the studies found

A retrospective cohort study in JAMA reviewed data on more than 5.2 million U.S. infants born between 2017 and 2025. The share of newborns who did not receive the vitamin K shot more than doubled, from 3.1% in 2017 to 6.8% in 2025. newswise.comnewswise.comnewswise.comOpen source ↗

Infants who did not receive the shot had a 47% higher risk of bleeding within the first 6 months of life than those who did. They also had more than twice the risk of bleeding within the skull and of mortality with concurrent bleeding during the birth hospitalization. newswise.comnewswise.comnewswise.comOpen source ↗

A research letter in JAMA Pediatrics examined data on more than 11 million U.S. infants aged 0 to 6 months. The percentage of newborns who received injectable vitamin K fell from 97.7% in 2017 to 95.0% in 2025. Over the same period the rate of vitamin K deficiency rose by 215.7%, and the rate of vitamin K-deficient bleeding rose by 347.1%. newswise.comnewswise.comnewswise.comOpen source ↗

Expert commentary on vitamin K

The release notes that the injection has been part of newborn care since 1961. Katharine Clouser, M.D., of Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center, said online misinformation is contributing to a resurgence of vitamin K deficiency bleeding. She stated that infants who do not receive the shot are 81 times more likely to develop the condition. newswise.comnewswise.comnewswise.comOpen source ↗

Cathleen Ballance, M.D., MPH, of K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, stressed that the injection is not an immunization but a vitamin supplement. In her words, babies are not born with enough vitamin K to clot their blood. newswise.comnewswise.comnewswise.comOpen source ↗

The release adds that the supplement is plant-derived and given as a single injection. Newborns have low vitamin K levels because it transfers poorly during pregnancy, and they lack the gut bacteria that produce it until about 6 months of age. Without it, blood cannot clot properly, and bleeding can occur anywhere in the body, including the brain. newswise.comnewswise.comnewswise.comOpen source ↗

The release cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as saying that one in five babies with this bleeding disorder will die. It also states that giving the supplement within the first six hours after birth provides immediate protection. newswise.comnewswise.comnewswise.comOpen source ↗