Vitamin K shot

[macha10]

Hello everyone,

I have been lurking around here for awhile, and have finally registered. I am glad to have finally found a board with people who share my birth ideals!

Question. I have been doing research, and was planning on declining the vitamin K. However, my husband and I are planning on circumcising our son when he is born. Is the Vit K necessary in this case? And if it is, could we just circumcise later, and how would we go about doing this? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[MrsTani]

Originally Posted by macha10

Hello everyone,

I have been lurking around here for awhile, and have finally registered. I am glad to have finally found a board with people who share my birth ideals!

Question. I have been doing research, and was planning on declining the vitamin K. However, my husband and I are planning on circumcising our son when he is born. Is the Vit K necessary in this case? And if it is, could we just circumcise later, and how would we go about doing this? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

If you wait until the eighth day (counting day of birth as day 1), you may not need to get the Vitamin K shot. But check with mohels in your area (you should be able to find in the yellow pages) - some will and some won't do the bris without the Vitamin K shot. If you plan on getting your son circumcised before the eighth, get the shot.

[hapersmion]

We gave oral vitamin K, because my son had some bruising. You might want to look into that as an alternative to the shot. I figured it might be easier for the baby to deal with taking it orally, rather than having to adjust to a huge injection of it right into his bloodstream.

I would also recommend checking out the circumcision board for more info on that. When I was first pregnant, I thought it was something that everyone did, but I'm really glad I had friends who gave me good information before the baby was born. The sticky links at the top of the forum are definitely worth reading.

[ZoeyZoo]

You might also want to get a copy of the package inserts for the vit K shot. I've seen them posted several times on the vax forum. There are many possible side effects including death. IMO it's best to weight the benefits of the shot against the side effects. Though you may not make the same decision as I did, I think it's good to be fully informed.

[nashvillemidwife]

The serious side effects are almost exclusively from IV administration, and is stated so on the package insert.

[desertpenguin]

Originally Posted by nashvillemidwife

The serious side effects are almost exclusively from IV administration, and is stated so on the package insert.

when would they do vit K through IV administration? for preemies?

[nashvillemidwife]

To treat hypercoagulation or coagulant overdose.