A pro-forskin pediatrician or a pro-breastfeeding one?

[AllieFaye]

If you had to choose between a ped who would protect your son's foreskin or one who was pro-breastfeeding, which would you choose? What would be the deal breaker, if any?

[Claire and Boys]

Pro foreskin simply because of the retraction deal. I can go elsewhere for breastfeeding help, I don't expect to get that from my doctor but a pro circ doctor can do real damage by retracting when your back is turned.

[perspective]

I am not a parent but I would say pro-foreskin. Circumcision is a human rights issue, breast feeding is a parental decision. Even though I know how important breast milk is, its easy choice when its deciding between having a kid with a happy healthy penis, vs breast milk.

[pigpokey]

Family practitioner only. Peds have always rubbed me the wrong way.

[calngavinsmom]

A foreskin knowlegable doc is more important to me because they could cause harm to my son by their actions (retraction, misdiagnosis). As far as breastfeeding goes, I have total control over that and can find support elsewhere, so IMO they can't really damage my bf relationship with my babe.

Take care,
Tara

[riverscout]

Originally Posted by calngavinsmom

A foreskin knowlegable doc is more important to me because they could cause harm to my son by their actions (retraction, misdiagnosis). As far as breastfeeding goes, I have total control over that and can find support elsewhere, so IMO they can't really damage my bf relationship with my babe.

My thoughts exactly.

[Ruthla]

You don't need your ped for breastfeeding help or support. You can go to the ped for medical care and elsewhere for breastfeeding support. The worst thing the ped could possibly do, from a BFing perspective, is to pressure you to use formula and send you home with a can of formula. Even in that situation, you don't have to use the formula and you can change peds, get a 2nd opinion, etc. It can be stressful for you but it won't cause any harm to your baby.

It only takes a few seconds for a medical professional to retract an intact baby- even if you're standing right there you might not be quick enough to stop it.

I do want to clarify, though, that you don't necessarily need a ped who's "pro intact"- you need one who's educated about proper care of the intact penis. You could have a dr who performs circs and even one who encourages them but still knows not to retract. Similarly, you could have a dr who's anti-circ yet thinks intact babies need to be retracted. Anti-circ doctors may be more likely to be informed about proper care of the intact penis, but they're actually two separate issues.

[K703]

If I had to choose between one or the other, I'd choose a foreskin-friendly ped over a BF-friendly one by a longshot. As others have said, you can look elsewhere for advice on breastfeeding. Plus, which is worse in the longrun (even if such an event were to happen only once): the baby being given some formula or having his foreskin retracted?

[3pink1blue]

I chose that they have to be both. I want to give my money to a doctor who is supporting AP in general, and that includes being both foreskin and breastfeeding friendly, as well as delayed and/or selective vax, delayed solids, babywearing, co-sleeping, etc.

[LavenderMae]

I would choose a pro-foreskin one because I wouldn't actually go to a ped for breastfeeding advice anyway. And the potential for my intact son to be harmed by a ped ignorant about foreskin is a real possibility.

[Arduinna]

Why not expand the search to a family physician that is pro both?

[sewingmama]

Originally Posted by Claire and Boys

Pro foreskin simply because of the retraction deal. I can go elsewhere for breastfeeding help, I don't expect to get that from my doctor but a pro circ doctor can do real damage by retracting when your back is turned.

Yup, that. Ideally, the ped would be pro both, but the ped would have to be pretty extremely not pro-breastfeeding for that to be a dealbreaker, and I just can't imagine someone being *that* anti-BF'ing. However, pro foreskin would matter a LOT. I don't particularly care what the doc's personal views on intact vs. circ are, as long as he/she doesn't retract or otherwise mess with my intact sons. And there are tons of other places to get BF'ing help, if you even need BF'ing help at all.

But you may not even need a ped, period, if you don't see a need for well baby checks and don't vaccinate (though it's not a bad idea to have someone who knows you and your kid a bit in case there is a problem).

[tinyblackdot]

I would go with pro BFing, I would think that forskin would only be an issue at the time of birth right?


Where BFing is an issue for hopfully many years to come.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Actually the foreskin is always a issue when you have to fight to not have your ds retracted at every visit :

It is tuff but for me specifically I already knew what I needed to know about bfing and knew when a Dr was blowing air up my skirt.

[tinyblackdot]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X

Actually the foreskin is always a issue when you have to fight to not have your ds retracted at every visit :

It is tuff but for me specifically I already knew what I needed to know about bfing and knew when a Dr was blowing air up my skirt.

Ok total dumb question here....but why do they need to do that, and why is it a big deal if they do it?

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

They dont need to do it but because they are not taught any different in medical school. They are only taught to cut it off. If you look at the Warning sticky here you can see it happens way to often

The Definition of retraction sticky will tell you why it is a bad thing. Think ripping fingernail from finger bad thing.

[tinyblackdot]

cool thanks!

[Dabble]

Definitely the foreskin-friendly. A lactation consultant is the person you want to go to if you have issues with breastfeeding, and as other posters have stated, it's pretty simple to discard a pediatrician's advice if they are pro-formula. A doctor who doesn't understand a foreskin, however can do a lot of damage very quickly, in addition to being totally useless if an issue ever comes up (i.e. infection). The answer they will give you is "Let's circumcise him."

We made our way through the system with plenty of doctors who were good with one or the other (or our favorites - the ones who knew nothing about either!) and finally found one who is supportive of both : but our main draw to her was the fact that she was so happy we left our son intact. Turns out she has an adult son who she left intact too -

Those mystical ones who are supportive and knowledgeable about both do exist, even in rural areas. It takes a lot of searching to find them, but it's worth the work. Good luck!

[Natsuki]

Pro-bf'ing, hands down. There is much more occasion for a doctor to undermine a woman's confidence in how her child is growing and being fed than in the foreskin.

[AllyRae]

Originally Posted by Arduinna

Why not expand the search to a family physician that is pro both?

The only doctor my son ever had that retracted him was a family physician. They don't usually get the AAP position papers, and so he didn't know about the care of the intact penis paper the AAP put out until I brought it to him.

In my experience, the most pro-foreskin/anti-circ doctor I could find was also the most pro-breastfeeding. I don't know that I find too many that are naturally minded, but can't figure out how to care for an intact penis or support breastfeeding.

And actually, my choice is based on neither--I've had horrible experiences with pro-breastfeeding doctors and anti-circ doctors due to them not respecting other issues--delayed vaxing, co-sleeping, no physical punishment, not being knowledgeable about autism or adoption issues, etc. My children's ped has to be supportive of parent-choices. That way, I'm not having a fight for 18 years because I chose a doctor based on something that was only an issue for a year or for 4 years or whatever. (Besides, our ped has to see my daughter too who was adopted too late to nurse, and obviously has no penis, so the doctor had to be able to support my choices regarding her care too. : )