It's not just vaccines -- parents are refusing other routine preventive care for newborns

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://apnews.com/article/babies-newborns-pediatricians-vitamin-k-hepatitis-b-erythromycin-9126463f0cb38b9778fb77bc0d071776

BY LAURA UNGAR
Updated 11:18 AM EDT, March 21, 2026

One day at an Idaho hospital, half the newborns Dr. Tom Patterson saw didn’t get the vitamin K shots that have been given to babies for decades to prevent potentially deadly bleeding. On another recent day, more than a quarter didn’t get the shot. Their parents wouldn’t allow it.

“When you look at a child who’s innocent and vulnerable — and a simple intervention that’s been done since 1961 is refused — knowing that baby’s going out into the world is super worrisome to me,” said Patterson, who’s been a pediatrician for nearly three decades.

Doctors across the nation are alarmed that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other proven, routine, preventive care for babies.

A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which analyzed more than 5 million births nationwide, found that refusals of vitamin K shots nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024, from 2.9% to 5.2%. Other research suggests that parents who decline vitamin K shots are much more likely to refuse getting their newborns the hepatitis B vaccine and an eye ointment to prevent potentially blinding infections. Rates for that vaccination at birth dropped in recent years, and doctors confirm that more parents are refusing the eye medication.

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[Aristus]

1. F*****g Idaho, man.

Those poor kids with their idiotic monsters of parents.

[Ritabert]

2. I didn't realize about the vitamin K but I knew about the eye ointment.

Very interesting.

[3catwoman3]

3. I was just talking about this with a colleague from the pediatric office...

...where I worked for almost 25 years. I retired 5 yrs ago. I do not miss dealing with parental stupidity.

The human body makes vitamin K from gut bacteria, which newborns don't have when they first arrive on the scene, and they don't start making their own Vit K until they are on solids foods at 4-6 months of age . My colleague said that parents of baby boys who wish to have their sons circumcised but have refused the Vit K injection are surprised to find out that doctors are not willing to perform this procedure because of the risk of bleeding.

I have heard about people wanting to put breast milk in a newborn's eyes instead of the antibiotic. No research supports this.

Our veterinarian said the antivaxx mentality has also become a problem with pet owners.

[Skittles]

4. very disturbing that these kind of morons are raising kids

[JustKay]

5. I wonder what's behind this antiVax trend?

Is it a poor education system? People fear what they don't understand (science)? I don't have kids, but I find this trend interesting.