CHAPTER 29 Vitamin K
• The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia recommends that all babies get an IM dose of 1 mg (0.1 mL) of Konakion MM at birth.
• The IM dose is stressed as the preferred option for reliability and compliance. However, parents can elect to have the vitamin K treatment administered orally as three 2 mg (0.2 mL) doses of Konakion MM. These doses are given at birth, at the time of newborn screening (3 to 5 days), and at 4 weeks.
• The NHMRC recommendations stress that ‘the advantage of the intramuscular injection is it requires no subsequent dosage to be administered. The advantage of the oral administration in three doses is that it is non-invasive and that, if 100% compliance is achieved, it may be almost as effective as intramuscular administration’.
• The guidelines also stress the need for parents to receive written information during the antenatal period about the importance of vitamin K and the options of intramuscular or oral treatments.
• The guidelines also stress that child-health workers and parents should be aware that unexplained bleeding or bruising in infants is uncommon and should be promptly investigated and treated. Information on unexplained bleeding is recommended for inclusion in the general information provided to parents during the antenatal period.
