According to the national guideline, newborns are naturally born with low stores of vitamin K \u2014 a nutrient essential for blood clotting \u2014 and breast milk alone does not provide enough to protect infants in the early weeks of life.<\/p>\n
Without adequate vitamin K, babies can develop severe bleeding in the brain, intestines or other organs.<\/p>\n
The guideline, jointly issued with the College of Family Physicians of Canada, recommends all newborns receive a single intramuscular dose \u2014 or simply, medication deep into muscle tissue \u2014 within the first six hours after birth.<\/p>\n
Experts say the injection is the most effective method for preventing VKDB, particularly late-onset cases that can occur weeks after delivery and often involve brain bleed.<\/p>\n
While oral vitamin K remains an alternative for parents who refuse the injection, the CPS says it is less effective and requires multiple follow-up doses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something essential for the baby\u2019s health,\u201d staff neonatologist Dr. Eugene Ng from Toronto\u2019s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre said in a Zoom interview with CTVNews.ca Wednesday. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing it for decades, and it\u2019s been shown to be safe, and the consequences of not getting it is far greater.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty per cent of those babies may present with brain hemorrhages,\u201d Ng said, referring to late-onset VKBD. \u201cBrain hemorrhages carry far more devastating consequences because often it\u2019s irreversible.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/RFWCUF7OFELRSN7DKQCF7HW6NU.jpg\")
newborn, A mother holds her newborn baby at a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/AP-Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Michael Zamora, <\/p>\n
According to the CPS guideline, classic VKBD occurs from two days to one week and late VKBD can occur from one week to six months after birth and is the form physicians are particularly focused on preventing.<\/p>\n
Unlike early bleeding, which occurs in the first 24 hours of age and may be linked to specific maternal medications like anti-seizure medications or treatments for tuberculosis, late VKBD can occur unexpectedly and often without obvious warning signs.<\/p>\n
While Canadian data on VKBD remains limited, surveillance conducted through the Canadian Pediatric Surveillance Program<\/a> between 1997 and 2000 identified five confirmed cases of the condition.<\/p>\n According to the national guidelines, one infant had received no vitamin K prophylaxis, while two had received an oral alternative rather than the injection.<\/p>\n The findings translated to an estimated incidence of roughly one case for every 140,000 to 170,000 births.<\/p>\n Growing trend of more parents refusing vitamin K: doctor Dr. Eugene Ng comments on the growing trend of parents refusing to give their babies vitamin K. <\/p>\n Parental refusal and misinformation<\/p>\n Pilar Chapman, a hospitalist midwife at Hamilton Health Sciences\u2019 West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, told CTVNews.ca in a Zoom interview Thursday that there has been an increase in parents declining vitamin K in clinical settings.<\/p>\n With more than two decades of experience, Chapman said there has been a shift in parental attitudes. In the early 2000s, she said one or two clients a year would decline vitamin K.<\/p>\n \u201cNow … we would have several per month that are declining vitamin K,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Ng said physicians are also increasingly noticing the vitamin K decline, although Canadian national data remains limited.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems to be a growing trend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n