Q for those who had their boys circumcised..

I'm posting this question looking for information i hope it doesn't turn into a debate.
DH & I have done lots of research on the subject and read heaps of info on the pros and cons and have decided to get our son circumcised.
My question for those who have had it done before is who & when did you organise to have this done with? We tried to speak to our Ob about it but he didn't really give us much information, only to say that we would have to speak to our pead about getting it done, as this is our first we have no idea if automatically get refered to a pead after the birth or what happens - can someone help with my question?

My Ob did the procedure for us at around 2 weeks old. We asked him about it and he gave us all the information required. My suggestion would be to find a Paed or Ob in your area that has a good rep and that you are comfortable with and find out as much information as you can. Its partly covered by medicare (not by much but some) if its an outpatient procedure and not done at hospital.

*hugs*
Cailin

We had our son done when he was 8 days old, which is Jewish procedure.

He did not have aneasthetic, and it was extremely quick, and he cried more when you change his nappy then when he got the 'snip snip' done.

But other mothers wait until their child is old enough to get an aneasthetic. Mind you, that still has to be administered by a needle, which would hurt anyway.

As Cailin suggests, find a Paed or Ob and ask their advice.

Prior to getting finding a rabbi/mohel to do our son - I discussed it with my ob, and I think he mentioned something about 2 weeks...

We asked around our friends and also a couple of midwives for recomendations and then rang the Dr of our choice to find out how soon we needed to book, if we needed a GP's referal etc.
We got some of the cost back on medicare but not all.
Alot of Drs only do it before 6 weeks - the nurse of the one who did Imran was really suspicious of me because he was such a big baby and he was 5 weeks and 5 days when we got it done and she thought he was older and I was lying about his age lol.

I didn't have an OB, or a boy ;) But at our hospy the bubs needs to get checked out by the paed before you're discharged, so yes, you're automatically 'referred' in a sense.
But probably before the birth it'd be a good idea to find a HP who will do the circ for you, as I believe it isn't always easy to find someone.

Our paed recommended a GP who specialises in it (with plastibell), but he is here in Brissy so no help for you. I would ask your ob which paed he recommends (you usually get the one on call, but most obs have a preferred one who you can choose to have instead). Then you could ring that paed and ask. Or try googling it and see if you find out that way.

Thank you for all your responses. Unfortunately our Ob is anti circumcision so he wasn't much help at all when we spoke to him, I think at our next appointment we will speak with him again and try and get some info out of him, as far as names of Dr's who do it etc - if we don't get anywhere with him i might ask our GP about it as it is something that i would really like to find out about now rather than leaving it until after the birth.

Boo, just ask him which paed he recommends, then get the paed to give you the info ;) He doesn't need to know why you are asking for the name of the paed!

We had a local GP that specialised in it, he did it in the medical centre in the treatment room and it was all covered under medicare. It takes a few phone calls and a few embarassing (did you get your son done questions) but ask around you might be lucky enough to find someone local that does it. Most get it done around the 2 wk mark and it really only takes a few minutes and I agree with most of the mums above, my DS cried more when he was hungry or getting a nappy change then he did with the procedure.

Start asking around now before you really need it so that it is one less thing to have to worry about when baby arrives, and overall good luck for the rest of your pg and birth.

My friend is getting her little boy done on Monday and he's 4 months old. He's getting done at the place I think MelanieR was talking about.

On this subject, there is a thing about it on 60 minutes this Sunday night.

Hey boo
have a look at (link editted) it will give the page of the doc here in Brissy but if you can give them a call and they may be able to help locate a doctor for you. It seems that its mostly done by private docs these days.
The link above is in relation to the plastibell procedure... we had Jacob done that way and there was no worries at all :)
He did cry a little bit just after the procedure was done but threw him on the boob and he was his normal little self again in no time :)

Good luck
xo

BTW he was 6 weeks old when we had him done.

Hi there, I have two different expieriences, my first son was born at a private hospital and they generally have to go along with it I beleive (in Perth anyway) I asked my Ob and he arranged it all for me, he had to be checked by the paed who was looking after him in the hospital and it was done with the plastibell method (loved it BTW)

With my second son, he wasn't gaining weight properly and he was not authorised as healthy by the paed to get it done, so we had to cancel it. The health nurse put me onto a local doctor who did it the traditional way and we got Parker done at 6 weeks.


Now if I had the choice, I would get the plastibell method done, the only doctor who did it in Perth now doesn't do it, and my husband and I have already decided that if we have another son, I will fly to Brisbane to get it done, presumable by the doctor everyone in this thread is talking about.

If you google it, you can ring them and they will give you a list of doctors in your state that does their method, I did this for my SIL when she was getting her son done, and that is how I found out the doctor in WA does not do it anymore.

The reason I would get the plastibell, was the expierience, they put a cream on him and it was over in about 10 minutes they bought him back and he didn't even cry. The baby who had it before did, but Cooper didn't. It fell off like a week later, but no bleeding or anything. Parker though had to have a bandage on for 3 days and had to bathe it off and he cried a lot both during the procedure and when taking the bandage off.

He has also had problems with adhesion and we had to at one stage put a cortisone cream on around the head every night and pull back the skin because it had adhered back on. It wasn't the nicest, but it worked.

We're in Brisbane and are thinking of getting this done... Well DH wants it done, I just need a little more convincing! I was wondering if the girls in brisbane could PM me with some names of where we could get it done and any other information on such.

Thanks!

Sure scone! Will PM you now.

Did anyone watch the thing on 60 Minutes on sunday night? Boo ~ on the program they said only 10% of newborn boys are circumsised nowdays but I'm sure you will be able to find someone privatley to do the procedure. DP and I spoke about circumcision early in my pregnancy as we are Indigenous and DP's people are from the desert. It's traditional for boys to be circumsised in his culture. But my son needed an operation immediatly after birth and had been through enough so having it done and putting him through anything extra became out of the question. All the best,

August x

Who would usually perform this procedure? I would have thought it'd be a pead, not an ob?

We do not know if we are having a boy or a girl and the debate is still raging in our house whether we would have a baby boy circumcised or not :rolleyes:

I know that my ob has said that if we have a boy and want him circumcised to let him know while we're still in hospital - I don't know if that means he actually does it or if he just organises it with another dr? I will have to ask him at my appt next week.

From what I've heard, I would much prefer the plastibell method if possible.

if there is anyone in sydney who knows someone who does the plastibell way of circumcision, can they PM me details? Dh and I want to get our son done when he is born. Dh is worried it will hurt him, but my way of thinking is get it done young, they don't remember it. I'd like to get it done just after birth (like 2wks or whatever), but I have NO idea who'd do it and where or when etc. Any info would be GREATLY appreciated!

Kerrie - my ob is in Penrith and I am happy to pass on any info we get about it to you. I'm really hoping he/the dr he refers us to uses plastibell. If I forget, just remind me later on!

I know at the public hospital (i'm delivering there but with a private ob) they are pretty anti and don't generally give out any info about it which is pretty unhelpful to new mums I think.

Are you delivering at Nepean?

Willow - I'm pretty sure a pead does the procedure.

DH & I have been doing a bit more research on this and have come up with a few names of people we could call in Adelaide and ask for advice. We are seeing my Ob again next Thursday so we'll bring the subject up with him once again and see how far we get first then we'll try other means of finding out how to get it done. We did watch the 60 minutes segment last weekend, I would much rather get our boy done at birth than have to get him done later in life!

Katkins - if you google plastibell there is a website that comes up with contacts in different states around Aust, you could try giving them a call.

Once again thank you all for your responses, I will let you know how we go :)

For whoever asked, it is usually a GP who does the plastibell, but they specialise in that. The guy in Brissy (who was on 60 mins) mostly only does circs and some tongue-ties. Both my boys were done using the plastibell and I am quite sure that it did not hurt them - anaesthetic is applied first and as a mum I think I would have known if they were in pain. They both cried for part of it, but they always cried when they were undressed so no difference. And a cuddle and bf stopped the crying pretty quickly afterwards! So if it did hurt it was brief. We also know of 2 adults who had to be circ'd at around 8 or 9 due to problems and they said that was very painful, so that was one of our motivations.

HTH. It is a very personal decision and I think that's why the 60mins segment was good - it was balanced and showed that even medical experts can't agree, so how can the rest of us know if it's the right thing or not. We each have to research it and go with our instincts.

:

---

HTH. It is a very personal decision and I think that's why the 60mins segment was good - it was balanced and showed that even medical experts can't agree, so how can the rest of us know if it's the right thing or not. We each have to research ait nd go with our instincts.

---

Absolutely true!!

My friend just had her little boy done on Tuesday by the doc in Brissy using the Plastibell... I saw it today and I have to say that it made me feel a little ill seeing it. It didn't hurt him, he actually didn't cry at all! For me, I couldn't do it especially after seeing it.

The person I rang in Queensland is Dr Terry Russell, if you google his name you will get his practice. They had a list of Doctors who did the method in other states too. Just none in Perth

Kerrie, I'm pretty sure Dr Bell uses the plastibell. He's an ob so you will need a GP referral.
He's in Castle Hill and he's listed in the yellow pages.

Or Dr Khan in Kingswood did Imran. He's a GP so you don't need a referal. He's in the yellow pages too.

Both of them do it early before 6 weeks.

Dach, I didn't realise you lived around here?

Kerrie - I spoke to Dr Pardey about it at my appt on Wednesday, he does it himself and uses the plastibell method - but unfortunately he only does the baby boys of his patients.

He actually said he "hates" doing it which was a bit off putting. But says he knows there is a demand amongst his patients and he would rather do it himself than have someone else do it for them.

Hopefully one of the Drs Dach has recommended can help you.

I had our son done at 3 days old in the hospital by an OB.. It felt happy to have it done while i was in hospy as the nurses checked it for the 1st 5 hours to make sure it was ok,

How's everything going Boo? It looks as though we are getting DS done after all. When we took him to our GP, he had a look and asked us if we were going to have it done. He said he would refer us to someone 40kms away that we could claim through medicare and be $50 out of pocket?? I'm still not 100% sure about the whole thing:confused: so I'll be researching and finding out about the doctor himself. The doctor we are being referrred to done my GP's son 5 months ago so thats one reasurring thing though.

AMM - unfortunately our Ob brushed the subject off again, we've decided to just leave it for the time being, next time next time we're in with our GP i will ask her if she knows where we could organise to get it done - if that fails then we're going to call one the contacts on the plastibell webpage i found, hopefully they will be a little more helpful!