In 1961, the American Academy of Paediatrics began recommending all newborns receive a vitamin K injection as part of routine newborn care. The recommendation was made after review of research which confirmed the administration of vitamin K as an effective preventative treatment for Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (VKDB).
Historically, in 1894 Dr. Townsend of Boston first described 50 cases of bleeding in newborns which he called “Haemorrhagic Disease of the Newborn (HDN).” Then, in 1930, a Danish biochemist, Carl Peter Henrik Dam, discovered that Vitamin K deficiency was the cause of unexpected bleeding in baby chicks, for which he won a Nobel Prize. In 1944 Jorge Lehmann, a Swedish researcher studied 13,000 infants who were given 0.5 mg of Vitamin K (either oral or injection) on the first day of life. The published research confirmed that infants who received Vitamin K experienced a 5-fold reduction in the risk of bleeding to death during the first week of life. It was estimated that for every 100,000 full-term infants, Vitamin K would save the lives of 160 infants per year
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