VAXBaby 06: The Vitamin K Shot

Directly after you give birth, you’ll be presented with two potential injections for your infant. The first is the Hepatitis B vaccine and the second is an injection of Vitamin K. This isn’t a vaccine at all but an injection of a synthetic vitamin to help prevent your baby from developing internal hemorrhages. This is a very rare occurrence, and I’ll explain more about that in a minute, but just know that vitamin K helps create proteins that allow blood to clot properly. Babies are born with low levels of vitamin K, and as a result can bleed more aggressively than a normal person might—kind of like people who are on blood thinners.