Parents increasingly refuse routine newborn preventive care, study shows
A new study finds parents are declining proven medical treatments for newborns beyond vaccines, including vitamin K shots that prevent deadly bleeding.
Parents across the United States are increasingly refusing routine preventive medical care for newborns, extending skepticism beyond vaccines to other proven treatments, according to a recent study and reports from pediatricians nationwide.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed more than 5 million births and found that refusals of vitamin K shots nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024, rising from 2.9% to 5.2%. The vitamin K injection has been standard care since 1961 to prevent potentially fatal bleeding in newborns, who are born with low levels of the vitamin.
Dr. Tom Patterson, an Idaho pediatrician, reported seeing days when half the newborns in his hospital didn't receive vitamin K shots due to parental refusal. In Idaho, doctors documented eight deaths from vitamin K deficiency bleeding in a 13-month period. Research shows that newborns who don't receive the shot are 81 times more likely to develop severe bleeding than those who do.
The trend extends to other routine newborn care. Parents are also declining hepatitis B vaccines given at birth and erythromycin eye ointment that prevents potentially blinding infections from gonorrhea contracted during delivery. Studies indicate parents who refuse vitamin K shots are much more likely to decline these other preventive measures as well.
Physicians attribute the increase to anti-science sentiment, medical mistrust, and misinformation spread through social media. Dr. Kelly Wade, a Philadelphia neonatologist, noted that while care refusals aren't new, they were rare until recently. Parents cite various reasons including fears about causing pain, desire for a "natural" birth experience, and concerns about potential problems from the treatments.
Doctors emphasize the importance of respectful dialogue with parents who have concerns. Many report success in changing minds through patient education about the specific benefits and risks. The treatments prevent serious conditions that were more common before routine preventive care became standard practice.