Fewer newborns are receiving a routine shot that helps prevent life-threatening bleeding, because their parents are opting out of it, a new study shows.

The number of infants who are not getting the vitamin K shot — which is essential for helping blood clot during the first six months of life — has risen by 77% since 2017, researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found. MORE : Vaccine committee votes to scrap universal hepatitis B shots for newborns despite outcry from health experts

Health care providers have been noting anecdotally that more parents are declining the shots for their babies. CHOP researchers set out to learn how widespread the issue was, using a large national database to analyze health records of nearly 5 million babies from more than 40

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