Studies have shown that cord blood lacks detectable vitamin K (VK). In addition, breastmilk contains only a small amount. Administration of 1 mg IV VK to laboring women produces a very low plasma cord blood level. Is nature insulating the newborn from high levels of vitamin K for reasons yet to be discovered?
Science has yet to answer why the newborn does not produce adult levels of clotting factors, why s/he usually receives low levels of maternal VK both before and after birth, and why the normal newborn may produce a clotting inhibitor. (Some symptomatic babies may suffer from high levels of the heparin-like inhibitor. Unfortunately, no differential diagnosis is done to determine why an otherwise apparently normal baby is having clotting difficulties since all babies are treated prophylcatically.) What does extra VK do to the vast majority of newborns who do not have a deficiency? The fact that too much VK may cause hemolysis evokes questions regarding VK's stress on the liver and whether the production of certain clotting factors is low at birth to facilitate the immature liver's metabolism of bilirubin.
-Anne Frye, Understanding Diagnostic Tests in the Childbearing Year, Labrys Press 1997
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 1 Issue 41, Oct 8, 1999)
To subscribe to the E-News write: enews@midwiferytoday.com
For all other matters contact Midwifery Today:
PO Box 2672-940, Eugene OR 97402
541-344-7438, midwifery@aol.com, Midwifery Today
|
|