Explaining circumcision to mom....

Nurses Education

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Ok, so here is the problem: I'm a nurse and when a new mom asks me what is circumcision, what should i say? I mean, ok, go with me on this. I have researched for myself that the AMA, the pediactric association (whatever it names itslef) and many other references all are acutally against the procedure. Of course, for it if hypospadias or a deformity that can be fixed with the foreskin. But, most baby boys are born normal in that aspect. So, I'm a guy, and I have my own thoughts on the matter. However, my thoughts on the matter are the same as the AMA and such, however, probably a little stronger. So, personally I'm against it all the way with the exception of deformities. So, when everything that I have researched bluntly tells us that it is not a medical necessity but merely a cosmetic surgery what do I say.

I was heard once telling my opinion to a mom. Well, she asked for my opinion. I told her that I would never do that to my child and for many reasons. I explained them. They were facts. WEll, I got in trouble for that because that doctor was all about circumcisions. Of course that doctor was middle eastern. So, I was of course angry about that. I don't know about something, I'm from Chicago but live now in a little town in Texas. Do they still do this procedure much in the bigger cities? Am I just so far in the middle of no where or what?

Thanks

Specializes in rehab nursing, Ob/gyn.

I work in an ob/gyn clinic and when I do their prenatal registration and ask about circumcision, almost all of them say yes. ( my son is ) :) Only a couple have said no and that was because of their culture belief.

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Specializes in med surg home care PEDS.

New grandma waying in, my son was done at birth, my grandson (8wks old) no, my daughter said it is unneccessary she is an MD, I was kind of shocked but to each thier own, anyway, she explained that this is just something we do in USA, in Europe most people are not. some cultures do it for religous reasons, but most of the world does not . Just my 02 cents:cool:

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Our pediatrician was against circs, still referred us to another doctor though, did not put his beliefs onto us or lectured us in anyway. Gave us a pamphlet on the pros and cons and left it to be our decision.

As for pain medication, our sons were not given anything. Infact they didn't even cry. The nurse showed me the board they were strapped down on, and said that was the only part (they are different ages yet both went through the same thing, same doctors and same nurse) they cried on. One had a bell for his circ, the other had nothing. Both circs were clean cut and healed fine.

I know of others who never circumsized their sons and ended up having to later on (age of 2yrs, 15 yrs, and as young adults), and yet others again who have never been done and are doing great.

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Specializes in Emergency, Critical Care Transport.
WHO, I believe, is advocating circumcision to help reduce the HIV transmission rates.

Yes, WHO is, but

... studies were done specifically in Subsaharan Africa, where barrier methods are not as accessible or prolific as they are in the US.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0805791

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17321311

^^^Just an FYI for everyone discussing circumcision for HIV/HPV prevention.

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Specializes in Step-Down.

I think the pros of circumcision outway the cons

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Specializes in ICU,Med-Surg, Sub-Acute, SNF, LTC.

:twocents:Some of my thoughts on this issue:

Shouldn't the medical community be advocating condom use for all regardless of foreskin status? A parent thinking their son has a free pass for unprotected sex because they amputated his foreskin at birth is not properly informed. Where is the condom???

My 18 year old son thanks me that I did not choose to have him mutilated. I taught him when he as very young to wash his member, just like I taught him to wash his orifice, his toes, his ears, etc. When he was older, I told him about STIs, unplanned pregnancies, and to use a condom every time. My 7 year old boy has never had a problem.

Some people have expressed "ick factor" when it comes to a normal member. That is a personal preference. I think it is perverted to look at a baby's member and judge its attractiveness. Imagine someone saying labia are gross and slimy and need to be removed at birth. I would be happy to see circs classified as child sexual abuse.

I have heard the excuse that circs have been around for thousands of years and that makes them ok. Slavery has been around for thousands of years, so has stoning! How long did physicians practise bloodletting? Just because something has been done for a long time doesn't make it right:twocents:

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Staff note: A number of posts have been removed for being, a) off topic, b) inflammatory, c) made in reference to a post that was removed, or, d) some combination of the above.

The original intent of this thread was to talk about explaining circumcision to parents, not the pros or cons of the procedure itself. Regardless of our own opinions, we still have an obligation to present factual, non-biased information to the parents and then leave the choice to them.

Let's be realistic. In all of the previous pages and pages and pages of debate (some of it quite heated), very few minds were changed one way or the other. The only thing that consistently happened was that threads had to be closed and given cooling-off periods to avoid spontaneous combustion.

Please, let's return to the original topic--the relaying of information to families--and leave the circumcision debate out of the conversation.

Further off-topic/inflammatory posts will be edited or deleted.

Thank you.

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A number of posts were removed because, even though members were requested to stay on topic, the discussion reverted to the pros and cons of circumcision.

If that keeps happening, we'll take that as an indication that it's time for the thread to close.

Thank you.

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I have a lot of strongly held ideas and beliefs that are very controversial, but at work I stick to the scientific facts and would never offer my own opinion.

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Specializes in M/S, OB, Pedi, HH, util review.

SoonStudent and everyone,

I believe that's all we can and SHOULD do. When parents ask about circs (or anything else), we should give pros and cons, and leave the decision to them. We can explain the procedure and answer their questions with facts; but our personal opinions about it are just that.....personal opinions; and they have no place in the discussion. If the parent/patient asks what we would do, we need to redirect them by saying something like, "we're not talking about what I would do; we're talking about what you believe YOU should do."

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Our pediatrician was against circs, still referred us to another doctor though, did not put his beliefs onto us or lectured us in anyway. Gave us a pamphlet on the pros and cons and left it to be our decision.

As for pain medication, our sons were not given anything. Infact they didn't even cry. The nurse showed me the board they were strapped down on, and said that was the only part (they are different ages yet both went through the same thing, same doctors and same nurse) they cried on. One had a bell for his circ, the other had nothing. Both circs were clean cut and healed fine.

I know of others who never circumsized their sons and ended up having to later on (age of 2yrs, 15 yrs, and as young adults), and yet others again who have never been done and are doing great.

I am not trying to argue here but circs should never be performed without pain medication. That is very unethical and unless you were a witness to their circs you should not believe what the nurse told you. Some nurses have admitted they have to been instructed to lie about the baby's reaction to circs and if your sons received no pain medication I bet it was very painful. Please be sure in the future if you have any more sons that they get pain medication just like you would not let someone perform a procedure on you without pain medication.

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My understanding is that Nurse Assistants are NOT given education on intact genitals of males nor how to care for them properly. Is that true? If it is, then there is a problem with how patients are cared for and that needs to change or it is a risk factor for the patient's overall health. That said, honestly, if babies were at risk for HIV and STI's, then there might be some truth to "benefits" of cutting their genitals. However, since they are not at risk, and as one commenter said that her baby was normal "just not circumcised yet"...... and a babies genitals are healthy and normal.....why is it assumed that he just isn't circumcised yet? That would infer that infant circumcision was a necessary medical procedure....which it is definitely not. What I don't see is anyone offering information on the foreskin (it's normal, natural and not a birth defect....) and that information which is vitally important to the full disclosure of information given to parents who are being asked to sign a consent form, and that is not being provided. How do we expect parents to make an informed consent, if they are not fully informed? There are a ton of ethical questions related to infant circumcision, but far worse is the fact that accurate up to date information is not even given to medical and nursing students. How many know the normal functions of the foreskin? Not many. If Aposthia is a birth defect (male infants being born without a foreskin)....then how is it possible that we have an unnecessary medical procedure (surgery) that basically surgically creates a birth defect? Most all other medical organizations though out the world do not recommend infant circumcision. The problem is that giving information to parents that is not a full disclosure, is basically not informing them of all the facts, yet a personal opinion might be misconstrued as medical advice? This makes no sense.

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