Doctors administered vitamin K and used additional treatments to control the bleeding, but the infant died after suffering severe blood loss. Pediatricians recommend that newborns receive the shot after birth because babies naturally have limited levels of the nutrient needed for normal blood clotting. Before routine vitamin K injections were introduced in 1961, as many as one in 60 newborns developed vitamin K deficiency bleeding during the first week of life. Pediatricians say parents who decline vitamin K should understand that severe bleeding may not be immediately obvious. Doctors also urge parents to tell medical professionals if their newborn did not receive vitamin K. That information can help clinicians consider vitamin K deficiency bleeding when evaluating unexplained symptoms.