Guest Post Lindsay: Circumcision-- What you MUST know

When I was in medical school on my pediatric rotation, I was horrified by the way circumcisions were done.  Frankly, it was barbaric.  There are some things every mother of a boy needs to know:

Oftentimes, babies are taken out of the room to go to the procedure, but unbeknownst to the parents, that baby may lay naked, strapped to a board, for 30-45 minutes before the doctor comes to the room.  These little ones are left crying and unattended.  And they are cold!!  You also need to know that a circumcision is not just a quick snip and you are done, but rather about a 20 minute procedure.   And most horrifying to me, some doctors choose not to numb the skin before starting.  A shot of lidocaine numbs the skin in about 5 minutes so that the procedure can be done comfortably.  But to my utter shock, believe it or not, there are doctors out there who are in such a hurry (never mind the baby waited on them for half an hour) that they don’t want to take the extra time.  And I can tell you that 2 hours after the circumcision, those little babies have elevated heart rates and blood pressure from pain. 

I almost flunked my rotation because I was so upset after seeing that done (imagine getting stitched up for 20 minutes, or having a mole cut off, several layers deep without any anesthetic)  that I questioned my attending physician about it.  He told me that it wasn’t necessary to give babies numbing medicine because they can’t remember the pain, to which I replied, “Oh I see, then why give our Alzheimer’s patients pain meds or anesthetics, I mean, after all, they certainly won’t remember.”  Yeah, that did not go over well.  But what a freaking contradiction!!  And how sick that we are rationalizing abating pain because a newborn won’t remember??!!  Really??!!

So moms and dads, PLEASE make sure you attend the circumcision with your baby. Don’t just let a nurse take your baby from you.  You need to be privy to what goes on behind the scenes.  Second, always make sure they give the lidocaine shot.  Additionally, if you breastfeed your baby while they give the lidocaine shot, your baby most likely will not even cry.  “Breastfeeding is a powerful pain reliever, because it combines cuddling, skin-to-skin contact, sucking, and a sweet taste – a soothing antidote to the shock and pain of the needle.  “ (Laurel Schultz, pediatrician)  In fact, I breastfed all of my children anytime they had something done, i.e., the heel sticks to test for PKU, basically anytime they were being “messed with.”  NOTE:  If your pediatrician is not OK with you breastfeeding during a shot, that’s a red flag and you need to find another doc!!

I gave birth to two of my children at a birthing center in The Woodlands, TX, called Nativiti (my third was born at home in Oklahoma).   The midwives there recommend you wait to circumcise your boy until he is 8 days old.  Interestingly, it’s biblical, and you can find the reference in Genesis 17:12:" For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised…” But why 8 days??  Because that’s when the clotting factors within the body are fully developed.  So the risk of excess bleeding and complication is much less. 

So, Moms, the take home message from me is this:  wait until your baby is 8 days old and go to your pediatrician’s office to have the circumcision done if you choose to circumcise at all.  Don’t  do it in the hospital!!  ****I am going to digress a bit, so stay with me……Listen, I can tell you it was because of the things I saw done in a hospital that was ranked 5^th in the nation as one of the top teaching hospitals in the U.S. that I chose NOT to have my babies in a hospital.  Our healthcare system is in crises right now.  Nurses are so inundated with paperwork to meet new federal standards that “nursing” and caring for the patient has all but gone out the window!!  Please don't take this that I am dogging on nurses, my mom is a wonderful nurse of 30 years.  But hospitals are a business and are concerned with being profitable, not doing what is necessarily the best for the patient.  I saw many times that the nurse to patient ratio was way too high because the hospital was cutting costs, and patients did not get the attention they needed.  Nurses are overworked and make mistakes, some of them medication mistakes that can be costly.  I saw a nurse drop an intubation tube on the floor, pick it up and intubate a baby in ICU!  (Yes, I turned her in!).  If you have a surgery, the knee or hip or screw or pacemaker is not necessarily the best on the market or best for you, it’s the cheapest one negotiated on a contract between that particular company and the hospital.  Did you know that most of the time, it isn't even the doctor that determines what will be used in the surgery?  It's the CEO with the business degree, not the 8 years  or more of med school, making the decisions.  They will use products that have the higher reimbursement from an insurance company!  And don't think that big hospital systems aren't in cahoots with insurance companies!  Question EVERYTHING!  Don’t just take what your doctor says as god speak.  Medical students take one semester of pharmacology their first year in med school and never take it again!!  And it’s typically a course taught by a PhD during research for the university that’s taught the same outdated information the last decade.  So physicians rely on pharm reps to keep them “in the know,” but do ya’ll realize how strong the pharmaceutical and vaccine industry is in the U.S.?!  Money is the motivator, not good health!!  Question everything!  Think for yourself.  Doctors don’t know it all, trust me!! There are many extraneous factors playing against you when it comes to Western medicine!!****

      OK, back to the topic at hand……do the circumcision with your pediatrician at their office.  Ask if you can breastfeed during the lidocaine shot.  And sit with your baby the whole time it is being done.  Part of loving your baby is being an advocate for him.  Motherhood begins in the wombJ 


disclaimer:  These opinions expressed are just that….MY OPINIONS based on my personal experience, and are not intended as medical advice or to replace your healthcare professional.  You should consult with your healthcare professional to determine the best course of treatment for you.