Vitamin K

Vitamin K is important for making our blood clot. A very small number of babies don’t have enough vitamin K in their body when they are born. This can cause them to bleed in different parts of their body, any time in the first few weeks of life. For example, they may have nose or mouth bleeds, or start to bleed from their umbilical stump or their bottom. They may also have bleeding in their brain. Bleeding in newborn babies can be very serious and can cause brain damage and even death.

When a newborn baby doesn’t have enough vitamin K, it is called vitamin K deficiency. This is a rare disease, but it can be prevented by giving the baby extra vitamin K shortly after birth, either by an injection or by mouth. If you take an enzyme-inducing drug (carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, primidone or topiramate) when you are pregnant, your baby may be at a higher risk of having vitamin K deficiency. To prevent this, it is recommended that your baby should have an injection of one milligram of vitamin K at birth. Some doctors also recommend that you should take 10-20 mg of vitamin K, by mouth, every day in the last month of your pregnancy. Your midwife or obstetrician will be able to tell you more about this.

November 2008

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