A report released earlier this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that close to one-third of all American women of reproductive age got an opioid painkiller prescription filled each year from 2008 to 2012. This is of concern to health authorities because these medicines are known to cause serious birth defects.
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A recent study from the University of Calgary has found that increasing numbers of parents are refusing to consent to their newborns receiving a shot of vitamin K at birth, due to fears about possible reactions to the high single dose of the vitamin, as well as the other ingredients that come with it.
Vitamin K is necessary for normal blood-clotting in both adults and children; however, babies are usually born with insufficient amounts of the vitamin in their system, as it doesn’t cross very well from the mother’s blood through the placenta. The mother’s diet does not affect the levels of vitamin K that her baby is born with to any large degree.
Read MoreBy Jamell Andrews
It is very common for babies to experience negative reactions to medications. In fact, they are much more likely to have a bad reaction to medicine than adults. Because of this, parents need to be very careful about the types of medications they give to their babies. Even seemingly harmless over the counter or herbal drugs can harm your young child, so the best course of action is to always use caution before choosing medicines.
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