An increasing number of parents in the United States are refusing the vitamin K injection routinely offered to newborns, raising concern among pediatricians about a preventable but potentially life-threatening bleeding disorder in infants. New analysis of health records found that the rate of newborns not receiving the shot rose sharply during the first half of 2026.
According to an analysis by health-data company Truveta, the percentage of US newborns who did not receive vitamin K within their first day of life reached 8.1% by June 2026, compared with 5.2% six months earlier. The analysis examined more than one million births and found that the refusal rate during the first half of 2026 was about 2.5 times the average recorded between 2019 and 2024.
Vitamin K is essential for normal blood clotting, but babies are naturally born with very low levels of the vitamin. The injection given shortly after birth helps protect them from vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB), which can occur during the first months of life and may cause severe internal or brain bleeding.
Health experts say infants who do not receive the injection are about 81 times more likely to develop vitamin K deficiency bleeding than babies who receive it. Severe bleeding can result in permanent neurological damage or death.
The rise in refusals appears to be connected partly to growing mistrust of medical institutions, vaccines and routine newborn care. Although the vitamin K shot is not a vaccine, pediatricians say it has increasingly become associated with broader vaccine hesitancy and misinformation circulating online.
Earlier research also found that parents who refuse vitamin K are more likely to decline other recommended newborn interventions. A 2026 review of two decades of research reported that babies who do not receive the injection face a substantially higher risk of serious bleeding, while some affected infants can suffer long-term neurological problems.
Doctors have already begun taking additional steps to address the trend. Some hospitals require parents who decline the injection to formally acknowledge the potential risks, while certain facilities will not perform procedures such as circumcision without prior vitamin K administration because of the increased risk of bleeding.
Pediatric specialists are urging healthcare providers to give parents clear, evidence-based information about the purpose and safety of the injection. They warn that misinformation and declining trust could reverse decades of progress in preventing vitamin K deficiency bleeding among newborns.
