Why is vitamin K given to newborns?
There is a rare disease called Vitamin K deficiency bleeding, which occurs in approximately 1/10,000 babies. In about half of babies who suffer this bleeding problem after the first week of life, many will die or sustain significant brain-damage due to the disease, because of bleeding into the brain. It occurs almost exclusively in breast-fed babies and is almost completely preventable by giving extra vitamin K after birth.
