I live in rural Virginia, about 1.5 hours from the nearest hospital. After my first child was born before arrival, I opted for a home birth with licensed midwives for my second.

In their precipitous entry into the world, my second baby sustained a minor birth injury - a cephalohematoma. Out of an abundance of caution, my midwife suggested we take him to the pediatrician at two weeks of age and ask the doctor about giving him the injectable, more effective Vitamin K than the oral regime the baby was on. He said no. 

Two weeks later, we noticed unexplained bruises on the baby, and I took him back to the pediatrician. When blood work and an x-ray came back normal, he suggested my toddler might be pinching the baby behind my back.

Unsatisfied with this answer, I told my midwife about the bruises and she immediately was concerned about Vitamin K deficiency, a key vitamin for blood clotting in infants. 

Again, I asked my pediatrician if he would recommend a Vitamin K shot and again he said no - even as I began making plans with my midwife to deliver the injection, in line with their nationally certified training but against Virginia law. 

The baby became increasingly unsettled and started crying inconsolably about 1.5 hours prior to her arrival. When he still didn't calm down after the shot, we raced to the ER where he was diagnosed with a brain bleed and life-flighted to the nearest PICU that could take him, 3.5 hours from our home. 

Very fortunately for us, her administration of the Vitamin K likely halted the bleed - it hadn't grown in the hours between ER and PICU admission. After 8 days of testing and monitoring, he was discharged and diagnosed with Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding, likely due to a failure of the oral dosage. 

I can’t allow myself to think what would have happened if my midwife had not caught the warning signs my pediatrician missed, prioritized meeting me that day for the vitamin K injection, or administered the shot. If she hadn’t - especially with our rural location - I know that my baby could have been permanently brain damaged or died.

The ability for midwives to carry and administer Vitamin K should absolutely be legal in the state or Virginia. By administering Vitamin K to my baby, my midwife saved my baby’s life.