Vitamin K for your newborn

Vitamin K for your newborn

When all babies are born, they are defiicient in vitamin K - with most having between 40-70% less vitamin K than adults. While these lower levels are usually enough to keep them healthy while their bodies begin to create their own stores of vitamin K, some babies can become dangerously deficient in vitamin K after birth.

What is vitamin K?

Vitamin K is found naturally in leafy green vegetables and is a fat-soluble vitamin that assists in the clotting of blood and keeping bones healthy.

The are three types of vitamin K. During pregnancy, little vitamin K1 crosses the placenta to your baby (only about 3-4%). Additionally, vitamin K2, which is produced by your bowel bacteria, is unable to be transmitted to your baby.

Once your baby is born, he will begin to receive some vitamin K1 through feeding. Breast milk contains very small amounts of vitamin K1 (1-2 micrograms per litre), while infant formula milks are regulated by law to contain a minimum of 30 micrograms per litre. As a consequence, babies who are exclusively breastfed are more prone to vitamin K deficiency in the first months of life.

How does my baby get vitamin K naturally?

Most of the vitamin K your baby needs is obtained by:

  • a slow build-up of gut bacteria in the weeks after the birth
  • the colonising of normal 'body-friendly' bacteria by your baby's bowel

Most babies will increase their vitamin K to adult levels by the time they are 6 weeks old.

Why does my baby need a vitamin K supplement?

While most newborn babies are able to create enough vitamin K to maintain and increase their levels, occasionally a baby becomes vitamin K deficient,which can make him more prone to bleeding. This condition is known as Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding or VKDB - this condition was previously referred to as Haemorrhagic Disease of the Newborn.

All Australian parents are encouraged to supplement their newborn baby's vitamin K store as a way of preventing VKDB. Vitamin K supplements can be given either as one injection - this is usually given just after birth - or as three oral doses furing the first month of life.

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Last revised: Tuesday, 23 February 2010


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