New parents are shunning proven preventive care for their infants in effort to be 'natural'

Doctors across the nation are alarmed that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other safe and routine care for babies. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which analyzed more than 5 million births nationwide, found that refusals of vitamin K shots nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024, from 2.9% to 5.2%. Other research suggests that parents who decline vitamin K shots are much more likely to refuse getting their newborns the hepatitis B vaccine and an eye ointment to prevent potentially blinding infections. In Idaho, pediatricians reported eight deaths from vitamin K deficiency bleeding over a 13-month period. The trend is exacerbated by social media misinformation and political shifts, including a federal advisory committee's recent (and currently blocked) vote to end the recommendation for universal Hepatitis B vaccination at birth.