Are babies born 'deficient' in Vitamin K?
Why do they think this is?
Did our Creator make a mistake?
From a sperm and egg to the miracle of birth…yet God forgot to give them adequate Vitamin K at birth so that man has to step in and fix that mistake?
That is utterly foolish...
A newborn's natural prothrombin levels reach normal levels between days 5 and 7, peaking around the eighth day of life, related to the buildup of bacteria in baby's digestive tract to produce the vitamin K that is necessary to form this clotting factor. Day 8 is said to be the only time in a baby's life when his prothrombin level will naturally exceed 100 percent of normal. First, in order to absorb vitamin K we have to have a functioning biliary and pancreas system.
**Your infant’s digestive system isn’t fully developed at birth which is why we give babies breast milk (and delay solids) until they are at least 6-months-old, and why breast milk only contains a small amount of highly absorbable vitamin K.
Too much vitamin K could tax the liver and cause brain damage (among other things). As baby ages and the digestive tract, mucosal lining, gut flora, and enzyme functions develop, baby can then process more vitamin K. Low levels of vitamin K at birth just…makes…sense!!!???
**Secondly, cord blood contains stem cells, which protect a baby against bleeding and perform all sorts of needed repairs inside an infant’s body. Here’s the kicker, in order for a baby to get this protective boost of stem cells, cord-cutting needs to be delayed and the blood needs to remain thin so stem cells can easily travel and perform their functions. Imagine that, baby has his/her own protective mechanism to prevent bleeding and repair organs…that wasn’t discovered until after we started routinely giving infants vitamin K injections.
**Third, a newborn might have low levels of vitamin K because its intestines are not yet colonized with bacteria needed to synthesize it, and the “Vitamin K cycle” isn’t fully functional in newborns. It makes sense then to bypass the gut and inject vitamin K right into the muscle right? Except the baby’s kidneys aren’t fully functional either.
**Fourth, babies are born with low levels of vitamin K compared to adults, but this level is still sufficient to prevent problems.
Finally, several clinical observations support the hypothesis that children have natural protective mechanisms that justify their low vitamin K levels at birth. I don’t know about you, but we should probably figure out why that is before we “inject or give drops now and worry about it later.”
It's pretty silly, if a baby cannot assimilate any form other than the mother's own from BM...why do we give it?
if the mom breastfeeds then the baby gets it from her.
Unrestricted access to the breast in the early days after birth is important, due to the higher levels of vitamin K in colostrum. The importance of early feeding has been recognized since the 1940s.
Babies who have been fed within their first 24 hours have significantly better coagulation times than babies not fed until after 24 hours. Vitamin K levels in the breast milk rise markedly in response to the mother eating Vitamin K-rich foods or taking vitamin K supplements.
It is essential that to receive the full complement of vitamin K in breast milk, the baby completely finishes one breast before being offered the other. Any practice that involves restricting either the baby's time at the breast or the number of feeds will not allow the baby to receive optimum amounts of vitamin K and will also prolong the time it takes for the baby's intestine to be colonized by friendly, vitamin K manufacturing bacteria. Ask yourself this....Do you want to interrupt this natural process that we will never understand?
Some mothers choose drops without fully realizing the possible harm they can cause. Think about this and THIS is the reasoning behind the K at birth in Any form...Think about this "Research in 1937 found that K levels in "normal" neonates were between 30-60% 'adult levels', falling to 15-30% on day two, and then gradually rising again until about day 8-10. This research led to the continuing belief that these low levels in the newborn are a 'deficiency' and need to be corrected". Huh??
This is the entire evidence used to justify the use of K at birth in any form. FEAR is the only reason it’s used at all now even IF they needed it and IF a baby could even use it in any form...30 and 60 is a vast difference in numbers BUT drops and shots are given as one size fits all...??
Remember, those are the ADULT numbers it was compared against.
Got info from another source.
