Vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) claims

If your baby was not given vitamin K at birth and then suffered bleeding into their brain in their first few weeks of life, their brain injury may have been caused by a preventable condition called vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB).

VKDB is entirely preventable with correct midwifery care but, if allowed to develop, VKDB can cause permanent injury to a newborn baby’s brain, resulting in severe, neurodevelopmental disability, such as cerebral palsy. All newborn babies are at risk of VKDB, because they do not yet have the vitamin K which is essential for their blood to clot properly. Your midwife should have advised you about your newborn baby’s risk of VKDB and offered to give vitamin K to your baby immediately after their birth. Failure to give a newborn baby vitamin K is negligent care, unless a fully informed parent has refused to consent to the treatment.

On this page, you will find the answers to many of the questions that families have about neonatal brain injury from VKDB: what it is, how it happens and when you should seek help.

Our birth injury solicitors have helped countless families of injured children to understand how their injury occurred and to claim the compensation and support that they need for their child. We can help you answer these questions with advice from trusted, independent medical experts, and secure the compensation and practical support that your baby deserves. If you would like to find out more about your baby’s VKDB brain injury, and what that means for your baby and family, or you have been contacted by MNSI or NHS Resolution, contact us to talk, free and confidentially, to one of our experienced birth injury solicitors.

What is vitamin K?

Vitamin K is a natural substance that is important for healthy blood clotting and wound healing. Most adults don’t need to take vitamin K supplements as they are able to make their own vitamin K from bacteria in their intestines and can also obtain vitamin K from eating a healthy diet. Newborn babies are born without vitamin K and do not yet have the necessary bacteria in their intestines to produce it. This leaves them highly vulnerable to injury from vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) in their first few weeks of life, unless they are given vitamin K immediately after birth.

What is vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB)?

Vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) is a rare but dangerous blood clotting disorder which affects newborn babies, usually within the first days or weeks of life. You may hear the condition described as haemorrhagic disease of the newborn (HDN) but it is now more commonly known as vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) because it is caused by a deficiency of blood clotting factors resulting from a lack of vitamin K.

Our bodies need vitamin K for our blood to clot normally to avoid excessive bleeding and help our wounds to heal. Newborn babies are born without vitamin K and do not yet have the necessary intestinal bacteria or food intake to supply it, so if a newborn baby bleeds, their blood does not have enough vitamin K to stop the bleeding by forming a clot. This leaves them at risk of uncontrolled bleeding, such as from medical treatment wounds or trauma during birth, with bleeding both on the outside and inside of their body. Where the bleeding occurs inside their head (intracranial bleeding) it can cause brain injury and permanent disability, such as cerebral palsy.

Can VKDB be prevented?

VKDB is easily preventable by a standard treatment which is given to the newborn baby by the midwife immediately after their birth. This usually involves a single injection of vitamin K.

This treatment is so effective in preventing VKDB and its devastating injury, that it is standard practice in most developed countries, including the UK, to give vitamin K to newborn babies. As a result, cases of VKDB are very rare, and usually only occur where there has been negligent failure by a midwife to administer vitamin K. Where hospital negligence results in failure to administer vitamin K, causing VKDB and brain injury, the child may be entitled to substantial compensation.

Which babies are at risk of VKDB?

Any newborn baby who has not received vitamin K treatment is at risk of serious injury from vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) in the first few months of life. They remain at risk until their body is able to produce its own vitamin K and they are able to take in vitamin K from eating a healthy diet.

The risk of VKDB is increased even further if the baby has any of the following risk factors:

they were born prematurely (before 37 weeks of pregnancy);
their birth took place by caesarean section, forceps or Ventouse suction (kiwi);
they had respiratory (breathing) difficulties at birth;
they are breast fed (vitamin K is often added to formula milk);
they have liver disease;
their ability to absorb nutrients is affected by coeliac disease or other conditions;
they are circumcised;
they were exposed to certain medications taken by their mother in pregnancy.

It is important to remember, however, that all newborn babies are at risk of VKDB if they are not given vitamin K. A third of babies who develop VKDB do not have any of the additional risk factors listed above.

What types of medical negligence lead to VKDB injury compensation claims?

National guidance by NICE and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) strongly recommend that all newborn babies are given vitamin K within 24 hours of birth to prevent vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB). It is standard maternity practice for all newborn babies to receive vitamin K immediately after birth, either orally or by injection, to help their blood clot properly and protect them from serious injury from VKDB.

Medical negligence claims for compensation for neonatal brain injury and cerebral palsy disability caused by VKDB usually involve failure to administer vitamin K correctly to a newborn baby, delays in vitamin K treatment, or where treatment is withheld without the parents’ informed consent. Our birth injury team has experience of VKDB negligence claims including a cerebral palsy claim for a severely injured child who was not given vitamin K after her precipitous birth in an ambulance.

Parents who may be considering refusing consent for their baby to receive vitamin K must be fully informed of the benefits of vitamin K and made aware of the risk of VKDB and the serious harm it could cause to their baby.

If your maternity team negligently failed to give vitamin K to your newborn baby resulting in VKDB and brain injury disability, your child may be entitled to substantial compensation.

What compensation can I claim for my child’s VKDB brain injury?

If your child has brain injury, cerebral palsy or neurodevelopmental disability from vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) as a result of negligent maternity and neonatal care, our specialist neonatal brain injury solicitors can help you obtain substantial compensation. In most cases this means that as soon as the hospital’s liability is established, we will secure interim payments to help relieve financial hardship arising from your child’s injury and meet your child’s urgent needs for care, therapies, specialist equipment and, where necessary, adapted accommodation, whilst we work towards a final settlement which makes lifelong provision for your child’s additional needs arising from their disability.

Read more about compensation for cerebral palsy and other types of birth or neonatal brain injury.