Re: Vitamin K Shot

[Guest guest]

Marci,

I sure wish I had been a member of this group when that discussion was

taking place (I've only been a member a few days).

We decided against having the vit K shot for our daughter. Basically two

reasons for this.

1. The medical community says newborns' levels of Vit K are below normal.

They use an adult's levels of vit K for the standard. All newborns are below

normal in vit K according to allopathic medicine. If every newborn has the

same levels wouldn't that make their levels normal for a newborn?

2. I can't get past the thinking that God got everything else right about

the human body, but man did He mess up the vit K thing. There is a reason the

levels are low.

I may have considered the shot if my child was a male who I was going to

have circumcised. But even God got that right when He commanded the Jews to

circumcise their sons 8 days after they were born. Is it coincidence that is

when vit K levels have risen sufficiently to have such a procedure? I don't

think so.

Those are the reasons we decided against it.

Holly

[Guest guest]

I had a homebirth with my second son and discussed this with my midwives. Their

take on it was that if the body needed it at birth, then it would make it on

it's own at birth or before. It is only used to prevent a very rare blood

disorder or condition (I can't remember what it was called anymore). She

discussed the link to cancers from this shot and jaundice (my first had the shot

and was very jaundiced, although, it isn't the only cause) and said that she

didn't feel that it was necessary for all babies to have it. She did bring the

oral with her, per my request, just " in case " he had a lot of bruising at birth,

just to be on the safe side. We didn't need it and he miraculously survived

without it! Oh, and he wasn't jaundiced either, imagine that!

Sara

---- marcitrix <marcitrix@...> wrote:

> A few weeks ago a bunch of information about vitamin k was discussed,

> and after reading all of the info I am still not 100% positive whether

> or not it is necassary. Can anyone who decided against it as a shot,

> or orally let me know what helped them make this decision.

> Thanks

> Marci GA

>

[Guest guest]

I decided to go with the idea that nature knows best and that if we

really needed more Vitamin K, then we would have it. I read all the

info too and decided I didn't want to risk future problems because of

something that I did. I got a huge lecture from a hospital ped. but I

had already made up my mind before going to the hospital. Because of

the fear they instill in you, I did think about it often after she was

born wondering if she was going to start bleeding internally, like if

she was crying and I couldn't get her to stop right away. But we have

made it 7 months and she is still alive. Of course, I knew she would

be.

Tara

>

Can anyone who decided against it as a shot,

> or orally let me know what helped them make this decision.

> Thanks

> Marci GA

>

[Guest guest]

I just had this discussion with my doctor last week (I’m 38 weeks right

now); I brought him all the literature (both pro and con) and asked if he

would review and give me his impression (he is neither for or against

vaccinations and/or unnecessary medical intervention at birth, rather leaves

each of those decisions, by and large, up to the parents and has been known

to prepare medical exemptions for a number of children when it comes to

entering public school without following vaccine protocol). Here is the

information I gathered from him:

Not every newborn is born with a Vitamin K deficiency. In fact, most babies

(nearly half) are not born lacking Vitamin K; but in some circumstances they

are. And if they are, for whatever reason, this deficiency could lead to a

disorder called Haemorrhagic Disease of the Newborn (or HDN). This bleeding

disorder can occur directly after birth, or arise several weeks thereafter.

Statistically (from what I’ve been able to gather), roughly 50% of newborns

are born with a Vitamin K deficiency, but only a fraction of these newborns

will develop HDN. (The pregnant mother can always take an additional Vitamin

K supplement, in addition to her prenatal vitamins, that may help in some

capacity).

As far as the oral vs. injection form of supplementation of Vitamin K in

newborns, the studies that both he (my doctor) and I could find were studies

in which researchers collected data from various hospitals (primarily in the

UK) of children who suffered from Leukemia and then began to re-trace their

entire medical history looking for clues. What they found was a commonality

with the inject-able form of Vitamin K. But this is not a direct conclusion

or cause thereof. And there have been no controlled studies performed.

Meaning, no research studies have been intentionally conducted to draw a

conclusion thereof, and environmental circumstances have also not been

evaluated (i/e the condition of the pregnant mother, her eating habits,

prenatal vitamin quality, and of course living environments that may lead to

an increased risk of cancer in children). One can only speculate at best,

it would be professionally unethical to say that there were a direct link

because none such has been proven.

My doctor has and will (I’m having baby #2), support any decision of mine

and has ensured me that I will not be harassed or berated by hospital staff

for not giving my baby anything following her welcome into our world. In

fact, he says that he always becomes the target of such senseless tirades

from the pediatric nursing staff and is accustomed to it.

I have to give thanks for having such a wonderful doctor. We should all be

so lucky to find a doctor would is so willing to work with you, not against

you.

Chris

>

Can anyone who decided against it as a shot,

> or orally let me know what helped them make this decision.

> Thanks

> Marci GA

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Marci,

I felt that if we were going to use vit K, the oral form was a safer

way to do it than the shot, because taken orally, vit K levels come up

more gradually, as they do by nature when the gut starts to populate

with normal gut flora and the vit K is produced by the gut flora. I

did want to supplement vit K but not with a shot. So I bought the

drops myself and gave him a drop off my finger at 4 hours, one at 4

days, and one at 4 weeks, and I took 1 drop a day myself after birth

to increase the vit K levels in my breastmilk. My doctor said I

should not take more than that as it can increase clotting and

postpartum women can be at higher risk of clots due to hormones. I

only took the drop myself for two weeks.

B.

>

> A few weeks ago a bunch of information about vitamin k was discussed,

> and after reading all of the info I am still not 100% positive whether

> or not it is necassary. Can anyone who decided against it as a shot,

> or orally let me know what helped them make this decision.

> Thanks

> Marci GA

>

[Guest guest]

I did not know about the vit k shot when my son was born but now, in

hindsight, I wish I did. I would now refuse because of the info I have

and know about how breastfeeding and especialy colostrum provides

plenty vit k if the mum has a healthy diet. Also, I would not let my

baby have it because I now know that only babies born with lots of

intervention like ventouse etc. are at risk of vit k deficiency and

hemorragic disease (uncontrolled bleeding). If your pregnancy and

birth goes well, unmedicated, to reduce the need for intervention,

preferably a home birth or a birhting home, and you breastfeed very

soon after birth, then you can be almost guaranteed that your baby

will be fine. Also, leave the cord on for as long as possible after

birth, as this allows extra blood and nutrients to go into the baby's

system. And, of course, eat as healthily as you can during pregnancy.

Ingrid

>

> A few weeks ago a bunch of information about vitamin k was discussed,

> and after reading all of the info I am still not 100% positive whether

> or not it is necassary. Can anyone who decided against it as a shot,

> or orally let me know what helped them make this decision.

> Thanks

> Marci GA

>

[Guest guest]

Go to the message archives of the list

Vaccinations/messages

and right after the box for search it says " advanced " - click there

Under subject, contains - put vitamin K

under author - put nakken

You will get about 70 emails

Let me know if that works for you

Sheri

listowner

[Guest guest]

I'm also expecting in October and am refusing the vit K shot; will take the oral

and juice

greens for my self.

Take a look at this report;

http://www.whale.to/a/rothville.html

[Guest guest]

Don't do it! The vita K can be gotten from the placenta during your last

months, eat a very good vita K diet. The vita k is formed in the gut and as

soon as the breastmilk hits it, it will start doing its magic.

The shot is completely unnecessary, it won't do what they all say it's given

for, so why bother?

It's fake vita K so therefore not very absorbable. 2/ it's got aluminum in

it and I just don't think that fake crap has any business being in a body,

let alone a brand new baby. My son did not have it AND he got circ'd and he

was still OK..so that can tell you it's NOT a 'necessary' shot at all and I

wish I had known that many babies ago.

Nita (crew chief) and the crew: 15, Jon 13, 11, 9,

7, Christian (7/16/03 to 8/22/04), 2 and Isaac, 2/3/08

http://momof6.dotphoto.com <http://momof6.dotphoto.com/> for not

necessarily current pictures

http://nitasspot.blogspot.com

Learn from the mistakes of others. Trust me... you can't live long enough

to make them all yourself.

[Guest guest]

I would agree that a vitamin k shot is unnecessary and hardly worth the risk.

My boys did

not get it. Also, I did nothing special with my diet (just my organic prenatal

vitamins I've

been taking for 2 1/2 yrs now!) and both boys were fine. My understanding is

that a

fraction of a percentage of babies have a problem. Death is a known side effect

of vitamin

k. I'll bet your ob didn't mention that. The hospital ped sure didn't mention

it to me when

he was trying to convince me to allow it for my baby.

>

> Don't do it! The vita K can be gotten from the placenta during your last

> months, eat a very good vita K diet. The vita k is formed in the gut and as

> soon as the breastmilk hits it, it will start doing its magic.

>

>

>

> The shot is completely unnecessary, it won't do what they all say it's given

> for, so why bother?

>

>

>

> It's fake vita K so therefore not very absorbable. 2/ it's got aluminum in

> it and I just don't think that fake crap has any business being in a body,

> let alone a brand new baby. My son did not have it AND he got circ'd and he

> was still OK..so that can tell you it's NOT a 'necessary' shot at all and I

> wish I had known that many babies ago.

>

>

>

> Nita (crew chief) and the crew: 15, Jon 13, 11, 9,

> 7, Christian (7/16/03 to 8/22/04), 2 and Isaac, 2/3/08

> http://momof6.dotphoto.com <http://momof6.dotphoto.com/> for not

> necessarily current pictures

>

> http://nitasspot.blogspot.com

> Learn from the mistakes of others. Trust me... you can't live long enough

> to make them all yourself.

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Our midwives really are pushing for the vit. K as well, but it's a no

go for us (we're due next month). We are ordering our own oral vitamin

K online (the midwives said they could just give the baby the vaccine

orally - ew!! No one is pouring benzyl alcohol down my newborn's

throat!). Even they couldn't argue with me when I produced several

articles written by MD's saying that nobody knows if injected Vit. K is

more effective than oral, that many European countries do oral ONLY,

and the package insert stating that the injection can cause death. Case

closed.

Melinda C. in Mass.