US Newborns Skipping Vitamin K Shot Doubles to 6.8%, JAMA Study Finds
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Philadelphia – November 05, 2026 -- The share of US newborns not receiving the routine intramuscular vitamin K injection more than doubled between 2017 and 2025, rising from 3.1% to 6.8%, according to a Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) study published in JAMA. It is the largest retrospective analysis of the trend to date, covering more than 5.2 million hospital births.
Infants without the injection showed a 47% higher risk of bleeding
Researchers analyzed deidentified electronic health record data from hospitals and clinics in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The cohort included infants born at 35 to 43 weeks' gestation and followed them through their first six months of life. Of these, 234,825 infants (4.5%) did not receive intramuscular vitamin K at birth.