Newborn medical choices: 8 decisions to make together
Vitamin K, vaccines, circumcision and the other decisions made in the first hours and days.
1. Vitamin K at birth
Whether your newborn gets vitamin K, which helps blood clot, and in what form.
3 options · Well established · Around the birth
2. Erythromycin eye ointment
Whether your newborn receives antibiotic ointment in the eyes soon after birth, a routine step in many hospitals meant to prevent certain eye infections.
3 options · Experts disagree · Around the birth
3. Hepatitis B at birth
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver and can pass from a mother to her baby at birth.
4 options · Guidance changing · Around the birth
4. Newborn screening (heel prick, hearing, heart)
Newborn screening is a set of quick tests done in the first days of life to catch rare but treatable conditions: a drop of blood from the baby's heel, a hearing test, and a pulse-oxygen check for heart defects.
2 options · Well established · Around the birth
5. Circumcision
Whether to have a baby boy's foreskin removed in the newborn period, or to leave it and let him decide later.
3 options · Experts disagree · During pregnancy
6. Tongue-tie release
Whether to have a quick procedure to release the tissue under the tongue if a baby is thought to have a tongue-tie that affects feeding.
3 options · Evidence leans one way · 0–6 months
7. First-year vaccine schedule
Which childhood vaccines your baby gets and on what timetable in the first year.
5 options · Guidance changing · During pregnancy
8. Choosing the child's doctor
Who will be your child's regular doctor: a pediatrician, a family doctor or a nurse practitioner, and what matters to you in choosing one.
3 options · Your call · During pregnancy