everything effects mucous membrane flora- babies are not meant to remain sterile - and look where they come out and the common way they face nose toward anus- there are studies that show that gut flora is altered by where and how babies are born- no surprise babies who are born c-section have got the most pathologic flora, babies born at home and breastfed the BEST flora- what you eat or don't eat what flora you and your family are inoculated with is going to have an effect on baby's flora-
for long term health of yourself and your baby(ies) eating more green veggies everyday is the best plan- a vitamin K supplement or shot is just short term insurance- at a recent midwifery regional conference I asked the mws ,"who has seen babies with signs or symptoms of vitamin K deficency?" nearly all of the midwives present had -
Breastfeeding is a perfect system- and respecting that , paying attention to how it functions is key- if moms eat or supplement vitamin K then breastmilk levels increase , and they not only increase in K1 but also those other mks 4,7.. . So the flora produced vitamin Ks are increased with moms intake of vitamin K foods (bacteria break down remnants of vt K in the foods you eat ) what do we know about breastmilk- it tightly regulates certain things like the water content doesn't fluctuate with you drinking water- but essential fatty acid levels do fluctuate- because it is essential that you eat them, we can't fabricate them- the same is true for vitamin K your breastmilk level fluctuates with what you eat- what we do not know and has not been studied is the ceiling when does the increase diminish or stop.
My own homeborn and UC babies did not get supplemental vitamin K and I had been a midwife for years before I really started researching this. What got my attention was about 10-12 years ago 2 homeborn babies that died from vitamin K deficency, in the wake of that there were several mws of my aquaintance who talked about their "near miss" client's babies with brusing, intestinal bleeds, prolonged bleeding from the cord site, babies who got sick or were on antibiotics postpartum they gave oral vitamin K days-weeks after the birth for these symptoms- something was wrong here what I was hearing about and seeing was a far higher rate than the rare numbers quoted. What I found about that time was an explosion in vitamin K research, unfortunately not so much breastmilk and vitamin K. vitamin K seems to have some protective effects against osteoporosis and atherosclerosis so, there was funding coming from an aging baby-boomer population here and in Japan- of course it is not a stand alone thing we all need sunlight and exercise and other foods but from cradle to the grave vitamin K is important to women and our children- there are a few studies on mother/baby nursing pairs but not enough -
maybe one of the simplest things to do if you are not a gardener is to subscribe to a CSA keeping up with the greens/veggies you get weekly will make an impact on you and your family's vitamin K intake - I also think that oral vitamin K may not have a great deal of impact as far as changing flora negatively ,the study that showed best flora for born at home babies is in a country that gives babies oral vitamin K-
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