View source for Protection of intact newborns in hospital

'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is an important but frequently overlooked parental duty for parents of a newborn [[intact]] boy in an American maternity hospital. An American hospital can be a dangerous place for the [[foreskin]] of an [[intact]] boy.<ref name="morgan1965">{{REFjournal
 |last=Morgan
 |first=
 |init=WKC
 |author-link=William Keith Campbell Morgan
 |etal=no
 |title=The rape of the phallus
 |trans-title=
 |language=
 |journal=JAMA
 |location=
 |date=1965-07-19
 |volume=193
 |issue=3
 |pages=123-4
 |url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/morgan/
 |archived=
 |quote=This ritual, however, has become so widespread in the [[United States]] that it is no longer much of a status symbol, and a situation has arisen where any recently delivered mother who is eccentric enough to wish her child to retain his [[prepuce]], would be well advised to maintain permanent guard over it until such time as they both leave the hospital.
 |pubmedID=14310332
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=10.1001/jama.1965.03090030045013 
 |accessdate=2024-05-21
}}</ref> Non-therapeutic [[circumcision]] of newborn boys remains a common practice despite its harmful and unethical nature. Circumcision is a profit center for hospitals, so many will promote circumcision in various ways. It is easy for a nursery attendant to make a mistake and bring an [[intact]] boy for an unwanted [[circumcision]]. A [[circumcision]] that has been performed without valid [[informed consent]] is a [[wrongful circumcision]].

Mansfield et al. (1995) report, when a newborn is to be [[circumcised]], both mother and newborn remain in hospital an average of six hours longer, which substantially increases revenue to the hospital,<ref name="mansfield1995">{{REFjournal
 |last=Mansfield
 |first=
 |init=CJ
 |author-link=
 |last2=Heuston
 |first2=
 |init2=WF
 |author2-link=
 |last3=Rudy
 |first3=
 |init3=M
 |author3-link=
 |etal=no
 |title=Neonatal circumcision: associated factors and length of hospital stay
 |trans-title=
 |language=
 |journal=J Fam Pract 
 |location=
 |date=1995-10
 |volume=41
 |issue=4
 |article=
 |pages=370-6
 |url=https://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/mansfield/
 |archived=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=7561711
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=2023-05-22
}}</ref> so hospitals encourage and promote [[circumcision]] regardless of the [[pain]], [[trauma]], loss of [[Foreskin| tissue]] and function, and permanent irreversible harm to the newborn.
== Precautionary steps for parents ==
There are a number of steps that parents may take to lessen the chance of a wrongful, unwanted, harmful [[circumcision]].
* Review information on circumcision, so as not to be deceived by false or deceptive information that may be presented in hospital.
* If the maternity facility allows a birth plan, then specify [[intactness]] in the birth plan.<ref name="garrett2023-11-15">{{REFweb
 |url=https://intactamerica.org/birth-plan-checklist/
 |title=Birth Plan Checklist: Don’t Forget to Specify No Circumcisio
 |last=Garrett
 |first=
 |init=CJ
 |author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
 |publisher=Intact America
 |date=2023-11-15
 |accessdate=2024-07-09
}}</ref>
* Discuss your desire for an [[intact]] son with your attending physician.
* There will be a lot of papers to sign upon admission. There usually would be a circumcision consent form provided whether the baby is a boy or girl. Be careful to ''NOT'' sign a consent for circumcision form. Granting of consent by a surrogate for non-therapeutic circumcision (all newborn circumcision is non-therapeutic) is an unethical practice.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
 |last=Myers
 |first=
 |init=A
 |author-link=
 |last2=Earp
 |first2=
 |init2=BD
 |author2-link=Brian D. Earp
 |etal=no
 |title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
 |trans-title=
 |language=
 |journal=J Biosoc Sci
 |location=
 |date=2020-09
 |volume=34
 |issue=7
 |pages=560-72
 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bioe.12714
 |archived=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=32068898
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=10.1111/bioe.12714
 |accessdate=2023-05-22
}}</ref>
* The latest stratagem to obtain consent is to send nurses into the room to ask the mother if she wants her newborn [[circumcised]]. This is done repeatedly, in hope of breaking a mother's will.<ref>{{REFweb
 |url=https://intactamerica.org/press-release-having-a-baby-boy-get-ready-for-the-circumcision-sellers/
 |title=Press Release: Having a Baby Boy? Get Ready for the Circumcision Sellers!
 |last=Chapin
 |first=Georganne
 |init=
 |author-link=Georganne Chapin
 |publisher=Intact America
 |date=2020-11-16
 |accessdate=2023-05-22
}}</ref> Reports indicate that parents have been asked as many as twelve times. Promotion of unnecessary surgery is highly unethical. Awareness of this unethical practice will help parents to avoid caving in to the hospital's tactics. When this happens parents may file a complaint through the free [[DoNoHarm.report]] service of [[Intact America]].
* Rooming in — Keeping the newborn in the mother's room — offers significant advantages in facilitating initiation of [[breastfeeding]], protection from infectious diseases that may be present in the newborn nursery, and last but certainly not least, protection from [[wrongful circumcision]].<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=LLewellyn
 |init=
 |author-link=David J. Llewellyn
 |last2=David J.
 |init2=
 |author2-link=
 |url=https://www.cirp.org/library/legal/USA/llewellyn/
 |title=Legal Remedies for Penile Torts
 |journal=The Compleat Mother
 |date=1995
 |volume=40&nbsp;
 |issue=winter
 |pages=16
 |accessdate=2023-05-22
}}</ref>

== Video ==
<br>
<youtube>v=9f_iwuzaJ1g&list=PL9xT8CDa49tCXrql9UQdmU5_zUdGEtzOj&index=11</youtube>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Care of intact, foreskinned boys]]
* [[Intact-friendly doctors list]]
* [[Wrongful circumcision]]
* [[United States of America]]
 {{LINKS}}
This older article is some what out-of-date but still has some useful information:
* {{REFweb
 |url=https://www.cirp.org/pages/parents/protection/
 |title=Protection of Infant Boys from Wrongful Circumcision in American Hospitals
 |last=Hill
 |first=George
 |author-link=George Hill
 |publisher=Circumcision Information and Resource Pages
 |date=2002-03-16
 |accessdate=2023-05-22
}}
* {{REFweb
 |url=https://intactamerica.org/ask-marilyn-why-do-they-keep-asking-me-about-circumcising-my-baby-boy/
 |title=Ask Marilyn – Why do they keep asking me about circumcising my baby boy?
 |last=Milos
 |first=
 |init=M
 |author-link=Marilyn Fayre Milos
 |publisher=Intact America
 |date=2022-07-11
 |accessdate=2024-06-21
}}
* {{REFweb
 |url=https://www.yourwholebaby.org/at-the-hospital
 |title=At the hospital
 |last=
 |first=
 |init=
 |author-link=
 |publisher=Your Whole Baby
 |date=
 |accessdate=2024-09-26
}}
{{REF}}
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Parental information]]

[[Category:USA]]