Vitamin K

Vitamin K and the newborn helps parents and professionals understand the issues and the evidence relating to the administration of vitamin K to newborn babies.

In the book, Sara Wickham explains why vitamin K is offered after birth, looks at the pros, cons and alternatives and explains what we do and do not know about this area.

Get your copy here:

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What’s it all about?

Vitamin K has been routinely recommended for newborn babies for several decades. Many parents are happy for their child to have this. Others want more information. Some have questions about why this is offered. Many want to know about downsides and possible alternatives.  

Some of the questions that this book answers include:

What is vitamin K, and why is it offered to all newborn babies?

Does my baby need it?

What are the pros and cons? Does it have side effects?

Is there evidence that can help parents decide whether to agree to an injection, oral supplements, or neither? Are there other alternatives?

Can we postpone the decision?

Are some babies more at risk than others?

This book guides the reader on a journey through the information, debate and research. It explaines the issues and clarifies the different perspectives. The book draws on up-to-date midwifery and medical evidence and opinion and parents’ stories.

Get your copy here:

Amazon   Book Depository  GBBS

Kindle   Kobo   Apple   Other retailers

You can also order Vitamin K and the Newborn from your local indie bookshop, the IBSN is 978-1-999806408.

*We have affiliate accounts with some of these retailers. Any profit goes to the Birth Information Project.

What are people saying?

“One of the things I love and appreciate most about Dr. Sara Wickham besides her wonderfully warm heart is the way she’s able to probe, deconstruct, decipher, and translate the abstruse data and directives that swirl around the childbearing family and their care providers—empowering us to ask our questions and think things through from a variety of perspectives.

Sara does this for us with excellence in her illuminating book, Vitamin K and the Newborn.

Sara makes the refreshing way her mind works clear when she says,

“…as our knowledge grows and moves on, we need to be open to continually reshaping what we THINK we know. Part of the problem is we’re always looking for clear-cut, black-and-white, all-or-nothing answers… it’s relatively easy to scare women and families into making a decision by emphasizing risk and giving ‘fear-based’ information. It’s harder to strike a balance where one is honest without being unnecessarily scary and to take a compassionate and gentle approach to communicating information without glossing over the enormity of some of the possible outcomes… there is a substantial difference between seeking to ensure that parents are fully informed but respecting that their decision may be different from ours and trying to bully people into making the decision that someone else thinks is the right one…”

Thank you, Sara, for this wonderful resource! It’s always such a pleasure to learn and grow with you.” – Kim Osterholzer, Midwife.

“Sara is highly respected amongst midwives, and after reading what she writes you’ll see why.
It’s all evidence based but with some logic applied to it and she asks the right questions, even when there’s no answer to them yet. I was hesitant about giving Vitamin K to my baby and needed help in making my decision. This book really helped me feel informed and confident about my decision.” Jes

See more reviews on Amazon.

About the Author

Dr Sara Wickham is an author, educator, and researcher. She has more than 25 years experience as a midwife and educator and her first book was published in 2001.

Sara is now the author or editor of eighteen books and has edited three midwifery journals. She provides in-person and online educational and consultancy services for midwifery, medical and health-related practitioners and organisations around the world.

Looking for my Vitamin K resources page?

Find it here.

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