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It activates the molecules (clotting factors) that allow our blood to clot. Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that’s actually named after what it does: Koagulation, the German word for coagulation. Much of this information is available is also covered in the book Emily Willingham and I wrote, The Informed Parent: An Evidence-Based Resource for Your Child’s First Four Years, and the study references are available here.
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The best antidote to fear, misinformation or a general lack of information is knowledge, so let’s review the basics of what vitamin K is, why it’s needed and what it does-and doesn’t-do. The reasons range from faith-based ones to beliefs that it’s “unnatural” to anxiety about pain and possible side effects.
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Now a new study in the Journal of Medical Ethics explores the reasons that somewhere between 0.5% and 3% of parents decline the shot.
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