Vitamin K as a Prophylactic in 13,000 Infants

Haemorrhagic disease of the newborn in the British Isles: two year prospective study.

“…The two probable cases were in babies born at term who were solely breast fed. The first (case 4; table I) received no vitamin K prophylaxis and at about 1 week developed blood in the stools and nose bleeds, which continued intermittently until about 6 weeks; at that stage the repeated. In subsequent weeks the baby's weight increased parallel to but below the third centile.…”

Six years' experience of prophylactic oral vitamin K

“…Those who first introduced routine prophylaxis 60 years ago gave vitamin K by mouth 22. This route was also endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics,23 and encouraged by those who believed that nobody wants an injection on their birthday!24 Indeed it would seem that intramuscular treatment only became the norm in the UK and North America because no commercial company made an oral product available.…”

Vitamin K--what, why, and when

“…A paper in the Lancet in 1944 generated widespread interest. 4 It showed a five fold reduction in death from haemorrhage 2-8 days after birth once all babies were given 1 mg of oral menadione at delivery in Göteborg, Sweden, in 1940. A similar policy was soon widely adopted elsewhere even though many were unable to replicate these findings.…”