A new conspiracy theory in the medical field, considered extremely dangerous by specialists, is spreading in more and more countries, including Romania. More and more parents refuse to give vitamin K to newborns immediately after birth. Doctors warn that the lack of this vitamin can cause severe complications, including hemorrhages that can put the child’s life at risk.
The spread of smartphones, easy access to the Internet, and the flood of false or pseudoscientific information on social media have fueled a new wave of medical conspiracy theories globally. Romania is no exception. On the contrary, specialists point out that distrust in medical recommendations is also reflected in the decrease in vaccination rates against serious diseases, which can cause permanent sequelae or even death.
Insufficient health education, lack of trust in the medical system and the difficulty of distinguishing credible from false information contribute to the amplification of the phenomenon. In some cases, parents end up rejecting doctors’ recommendations and scientific evidence, relying on information taken from the Internet from unverified sources.
One of the most worrying trends is the refusal to give vitamin K to newborns in the first hours of life. Doctors warn that the arguments put forward for this decision have no scientific basis and are not supported by medical data. Conversely, a lack of vitamin K can cause severe bleeding and other life-threatening complications for the baby.
Neonatologists emphasize that administering vitamin K immediately after birth is an essential preventive measure and one of the most effective ways to avoid a tragedy.
Conspiracy current against vitamin K
Worldwide, more and more parents are refusing vitamin K to their newborns. It is a standard procedure, recommended by neonatologists, which has the role of preventing severe hemorrhages that may occur in the first days or weeks of life.
The phenomenon has attracted the attention of specialists from many countries. “Across the country, families, at first sporadically and now in increasing numbers, are refusing an inexpensive injection given at birth to help newborns’ blood clot. Many do so out of well-intentioned caution, but based on insufficient or erroneous information. In an attempt to protect their children from what they see as unnecessary medical intervention, they reject a fundamental treatment supported by sound scientific evidence. This trend is fueled by the combination of parents’ natural desire to protect their children and the flood of false information shared by social media algorithms”reports CNN Health.
According to the same source, the consequences can be dramatic. The publication presents several cases in the United States in which refusal of vitamin K administration was followed by severe hemorrhages in newborns, some with fatal consequences.
“A 7-week-old boy in Maryland suddenly went into convulsions. A 5-pound girl in Alabama stopped breathing for 20 seconds at a time. A boy in Kentucky vomited before becoming lethargic. A brown-haired girl in Texas, not yet two weeks old, began bleeding around her umbilical cord. Desperate to save them, the documents show, doctors inserted tubes into their airways They put on IVs. They spent half an hour trying to resuscitate one of the boys, until the parents said they could stop. They shaved the hair off the other boy’s head in an attempt to relieve the pressure on his brain.”shows the same source.
As the Internet provides instant information from all over the world, and conspiracies and bombastic information attract many internet users like a magnet, the fashion of refusing to administer vitamin K to newborns has also reached Romania. Social media is full of posts advising expectant parents to refuse vitamin K. The authors of these posts are not doctors or have accounts without real profile pictures.
“No mother should vaccinate her newborn children with the so-called vaccine containing vitamin K. Doctors are paid hard money to insert nanoelectronic systems of occult control into babies. These systems, in frail babies, can cause premature death from the satellite. And so we, Romanians, are decimated en masse”shows a post by a Facebook user with no real identity and only AI-generated pictures.
Another user, followed by more than 17,000 people, also promotes various conspiracy theories about vitamin K. Paradoxically, although many of them have no medical training or use accounts without a verifiable identity, their messages are often perceived by some users as scientific truths or revealing information.
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Specialists warn that the spread of such unsubstantiated claims can influence parents’ decisions and lead them to refuse medical procedures essential for the health of newborns.
“Yes! Mothers refuse because they are no longer stupid! They are informed and choose what is best. And it is a big lie that this is what children die from! The problem is that their blood is stolen from the placenta, not being allowed to take it until it is completely empty. This is the problem! Thieves from maternity hospitals!”says a woman, on social networks.
For their part, medical professionals in the public and private system confirm that they are increasingly confronted with parents influenced by conspiracy theories, especially with those who refuse to administer vitamin K to newborns.
“A few years ago, in a private maternity hospital, some parents refused everything, even though I personally went to explain to them what and how. They signed and said that they assumed, that they eat healthy and the child has everything he needs. They asked for discharge on their own responsibility at 36 hours. Guess who returned at 40 hours of life of the newborn with upper digestive hemorrhage? Exactly, and that dad was now very demanding, that he would we have to force the parents to give the children vitamin K. The icing on the cake was when we explained to them that they had to do a transfontanel ultrasound, to make sure that he didn’t have a hemorrhage in his head. No, under no circumstances, we were damaging his brain, irradiating him, damaging his aura”said a specialist in the health field, on social networks, during a discussion on the new conspiracy trend to refuse the administration of vitamin K to babies.
In fact, the topic has sparked heated discussions on the Reddit platform as well. Some users say it’s outrageous that someone would risk a child’s life just based on personal information on the Internet.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize how many anti-vaxxers (and anti-drugs & anti-medicine in general) are running around the country. I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing discussions on various Facebook groups and all my ships have sunk. There are all kinds of people who have all kinds of conspiracies like: there are X heavy metals in vaccines/toxins/the virus/the disease itself, they are made in Iran/countries with -stan at finally and not at the Cantacuzino Institute, they give autism and other mental illnesses, the “numerical control” of the population is being pursued, etc. And the fact that all kinds of politicians come out to say similar things should be illegal, liable to prison (…) It’s something incredibly worrying because there are innocent children who suffer (or have lifelong consequences! Or die!) because their parents read some idiocy on Facebook. Or other people’s children, who suffer because they were in environments with these children (eg kindergarten)”
Other users, on the other hand, support the uselessness of vitamin K for babies.
“Babies make their own from day 8. All this hysteria is out of control… I guess you’ve never done any serious research on this. Why loading a newborn’s system with vitK makes no sense and isn’t good for the baby.”
“The child is born physiologically with vitamin K deficiency”
Neonatologists, doctors who care for newborns in the first days of life, emphasize that the administration of vitamin K is an essential procedure. The reason is that babies are born with very low reserves of this vitamin, which is necessary for normal blood clotting.
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“In the first days of life, the child naturally has a deficiency of vitamin K. The body begins to produce it in sufficient quantities only after birth, so the newborn needs supplementation. It is a practice used for decades in maternity hospitals around the world. Vitamin K can be administered orally, in several doses, or intramuscularly, through an injection of 1 milligram, which is usually given within the first hour of life”, says Carmen Zaboloteanu, neonatologist and head of the Neonatology Department of the Botoșani Maternity Hospital.
According to the doctor, refusing to take vitamin K can have very serious consequences.
“This vitamin prevents hemorrhagic disease of the newborn, a condition that can appear between the third and fifth day of life. The child may have digestive hemorrhages, with blood in the stool or in vomit, and the most serious complication is cerebral hemorrhage. This can cause severe neurological sequelae or even death. We are talking about perfectly healthy babies who can suddenly develop these complications just because of vitamin K deficiency. After a few days after birth, supplementation is no longer necessary because the body begins to produce the vitamin naturally“, adds Carmen Zaboloteanu.
Doctors point out that not all newborns with vitamin K deficiency will develop complications, but the risk exists and cannot be predicted. Medical estimates show that severe forms of hemorrhagic disease may occur in one in several hundred children who do not receive vitamin K prophylaxis. That is precisely why specialists believe that refusing a simple and safe procedure unnecessarily exposes the newborn to a risk that can have dramatic consequences.
