quick question

[mom123]

I will be having my baby boy soon and i don't think i would ever circ him but i was wondering what happens at the hospital after you have your baby. How do they know if you want your baby cut or uncut? I was also curious how much circumcision costs or is it covered by healthcare? Do the nurses just come in and ask if you want him circed? I was just wondering how this whole thing played out when you had your babies. Thanks for the info!!!

[MommytoB]

It depends on where your located some hospital give consent at the oddest time ever like during labor or at registration but some don't give any because I didn't get a circ consent form in my pile believe me I looked over it closely but did end up with a epistomy consent form on my room tray and I read it very carefully to make sure it wasn't a circ consent form before signing . I did sign the epistomy form and ended up with a epistomy what a pain.

Even with consent forms and your mark No Circ or don't sign them it will be still possibly getting asked and possibly more than a few times like sometimes up to 12 times .

It just depends on where your located and if you end up with a pro-circ nurse/pro-circ doctor you may get snide remarks or advice gives of the myth beliefs .

Other than that if your lucky you will just get a nurse to do the cross off in the circ chart without any questions ,criticism or continous badgering otherwise(that was my hospital staff actions in california 5 1/2 yrs ago when I had my son ) you will be even more luckier if you ended up with anti-circ hospital staff which can be a possiblity like I said it just depends on where your located .

For safety sake you just write on a piece of paper and write No Circ

Also, some insurance may cover circumcision and if they don't it would cost up to 400 to 500 dollars for a circ.

[Fellow Traveler]

Originally Posted by mom123

I will be having my baby boy soon and i don't think i would ever circ him but i was wondering what happens at the hospital after you have your baby. How do they know if you want your baby cut or uncut? I was also curious how much circumcision costs or is it covered by healthcare? Do the nurses just come in and ask if you want him circed? I was just wondering how this whole thing played out when you had your babies. Thanks for the info!!!

As a PP said, it depends on your location, the staff, and the hospital policies. There will probably be a consent form so read everything carefully. Notify your OB and any relavent staff ahead of time that you will not be circumcising. When you are admitted notify all those who are taking care of you or your son. You can add a NOCIRC note to his bassinet. Make sure your husband or you keep an eye on everything they do to your son. It is often best not to let him leave your sight.

Who or how it pays also depends largely on your location and your insurance.

[ElliesMomma]

i was super paranoid before i had my son. i told the midwife in the OB group that i don't want him circumcised, and she marked my file as such, saying that now they won't even ask. well... she didn't ask, but one of the OBs in the practice was at my bedside at 7 am (after 12:55 am delivery), asking me in my sleep "do you want him circumcised"? i was prepared for this and in my paranoid, sleepy state, i replied, "no, no circumcision." if i'd have said yes, lord knows, they probably would have wheeled him down the hall right then and there! i say, it pays to be alert.

i also elected to not only room in with my baby but to never let him out of my sight. they do the weirdest things overnight at hospitals. hearing tests at 3 am, weigh ins at midnight. you just never know what they are going to do while you are sleeping. best to just take naps for the duration of your hospital stay, and stay alert.

now, if your husband is on board with "no circumcision" and he can stay awake and advocate for your son, all the better. in my case, my husband wanted him circ'd, and "gave in" to my firmness that it would not be happening. so i didn't trust anybody but me to watch out for my baby boy.

good luck!

[PuppyFluffer]

I had out of hospital births with my three children. It relieved a great deal of stress knowing that I and my baby were not at risk of being harassed about being cut.
MIdwives and homebirth are wonderful options.

[bandgeek]

Originally Posted by ElliesMomma

she didn't ask, but one of the OBs in the practice was at my bedside at 7 am (after 12:55 am delivery), asking me in my sleep "do you want him circumcised"? i was prepared for this and in my paranoid, sleepy state, i replied, "no, no circumcision." if i'd have said yes, lord knows, they probably would have wheeled him down the hall right then and there! i say, it pays to be alert.

A doctor came into my room in the middle of the night to ask!

I agree with the others, let everyone know your wishes, but still be on alert because they can slip the paperwork in with your other paperwork and if you accidentally sign it, they can take him while you are napping.

[sehbub]

I had DS in a very intact friendly hospital, and STILL got asked about half a dozen times if we wanted him to be circumcised or not. Of course, every time we said "no" we got a big "REALLY?! GOOD FOR YOU!!" from every staff member.

We did have a sign that we taped to his bassinet in my room, but no one bothered us. He never left my room, and they asked after delivery if we wanted him to be taken to the nursery or left in our room for the duration.

Good luck, and congratulations on your baby boy!!

[eepster]

I was pressured about it. I had DS on a weekend, so it was the on duty OB/GYN instead of my regular one. I also didn't realize it was the OB's job, I thought the pediatrician did them, so I had gone over it with her during our choosing a ped interview.

You really do need to be prepared to defend your baby. Though you may get lucky (especially if you live on the west coast) and not be pressured it's best to be prepared for it.

I was given piles of forms to sign while in active labor , I read them carefully. The OB asked me multiple times each time as I was more and more tired, and acted like he was horribly disappointed in me for saying "no." The nurse would sneak in and wheel DS off while I was sleeping.

You can print up a sheet of sticker saying "Do NOT Circumcise" and stick one on at each diaper change right across the diaper tabs, so they would literally have to rip the sticker to get at his penis.

[pagodafish]

We made a very simple "requests" list and asked them to attach it to DS file. It basically said "please, no circ or hepB. Please consult us before any procedure and we respectfully request that our baby is not taken to the nursery for any reason. Thank you!" It worked very well. They never asked us about circ and we just had to sign a consent/release for for the hepB. We also found that it wasn't what we asked but how we asked that really made the difference....

As PP said- pay close attention to any of the forms they bring you to sign- ask to keep them for a while so you can really make sure you know what is there. No forms need to be signed in the middle of the night!

Good luck and congrats!

[ElliesMomma]

hi, i posted earlier, but i've got one more thing to add. the other strategy i employed was 1) to be super friendly and nice to the nurses (keep on their good side... and they talk amongst themselves about who's a "good patient") and 2) when the new nurses come on shift, ask them what's coming up overnight or in the hours to come; they would tell me, for example, we will have to have a hearing test later, or a weigh in overnight. that way, when you know what they want to do, you can pre-empt them and get it on *your* schedule. for example, i happened to be awake at 1 am when the nurses came in to check my "vitals" (blood pressure, temperature), and i said to them, i know you guys want to get a hearing test done tonight, can we do it now? can i walk down the hall to the nursey with you (to have the test done)? my baby had jaundice, and he had to have his heel pricked for blood several times. i asked if i could nurse him during the procedure (so it hurts him less), they always said yes and were very accommodating.

i know not everybody is as paranoid as i am about avoiding circumcision, and most of the time it all works out. but you do hear horror stories about it happening against the mother's will, and that's what i was trying to avoid. so to that end, just don't ever let your guard down!

[Llyra]

It was all no big deal for us, when we had DS. They asked me a whole ream of questions when I arrived at the hospital, and "do you want baby circumcised if it's a boy?" was one of them. (Other questions she asked were did I intend to breastfeed, would I like to talk to somebody about cord blood banking, did I want to room-in with baby full-time, part-time, or not at all, and did I have any dietary restrictions. Stuff like that.)

I said no, the nurse put it down in her computer, and said absolutely nothing about it. About 12 hours after DS was born, the pediatrician on call from our ped practice (has about 12 docs in it) came in to see the babies (DS is a twin). He mentioned casually to me, "if you're thinking of having him circumcised, I can send Dr. XYZ in to see you. He's the one who does circumcisions in our practice." I said no thanks, we're not doing that, and he said okay, and that was that. No hassle, no lectures, no visible reaction at all.

[writteninkursive]

The hospital where I had DS asked beforehand "Will you be circumcising your son?" We said no. We were asked again shortly after the birth, and then again the day after his birth. We declined, obviously.

I don't think most insurance covers circumcision anymore. Medicaid does not. I think it's roughly $300 or so to have it done.

[Night_Nurse]

Mom123,
If you are worried you'll be asked many times, just tell your OB and Labor nurse as soon as you are admitted that you do not want a circ for your son. Then, as soon as the baby is born, ask to speak with the charge nurse or nurse manager of newborn nursery. Tell her you don't want your son to be circumcised and you do not want to be asked over and over. Tell her to please make sure the baby's chart is marked "No Circ" on the front and to make sure each leaving shift nurse passes the info on to the next coming nurse.
Where I work, the nurses bend over backward to honor patient request (as it should be IMO). And especially if the charge nurse/nurse manager knows not asking about circ is a request from the mom, I'm sure it will be taken care of and you won't be continually asked.
It's also a good idea to put it in writing - in either a birth plan and/or a sign for the baby's bassinet.

If I remember correctly, you and your DH were having a disagreement about if you should circumcise or not. Do you feel like your dh is now on board w/ not circing? If not, you could try to get him to agree to waiting a while before having it done. Then he will get a chance to see how easy and natural intact care is and will most likely not want it performed (hopefully).

As far as cost and insurance, it really depends. It can cost anywhere from $150 - $700 out of pocket (so I've read). Some private insurance covers it while others deem it a cosmetic procedure and will not pay for it. Same is true for state Medicaid. Some states pay for it, others do not.

[joanq]

I put it in my birth plan DO NOT CIRCUMCISE. The nurses still asked each time they came in the room, but I made it clear we were not interested.

Our new hospital doesn't do RIC at all In fact they WON'T do them in the hospital at birth. If it is wanted the parents must schedule a follow up clinic appointment after hospital discharge.

[proudmomof4]

Originally Posted by ElliesMomma

(...)
i also elected to not only room in with my baby but to never let him out of my sight. they do the weirdest things overnight at hospitals. hearing tests at 3 am, weigh ins at midnight. you just never know what they are going to do while you are sleeping. best to just take naps for the duration of your hospital stay, and stay alert.

now, if your husband is on board with "no circumcision" and he can stay awake and advocate for your son, all the better. in my case, my husband wanted him circ'd, and "gave in" to my firmness that it would not be happening. so i didn't trust anybody but me to watch out for my baby boy.

good luck!

So much for "At the hospital you'll be able to get more rest." Ha!

[bugmenot]

Originally Posted by joanq

Our new hospital doesn't do RIC at all In fact they WON'T do them in the hospital at birth. If it is wanted the parents must schedule a follow up clinic appointment after hospital discharge.

Hopefully that policy has changed a few minds. If someone did want circ and ended up at that hospital, they'd get fed a few opinions during their stay. After their stay, they take the baby home and have a few days to think about it.

[nelson]

Originally Posted by joanq

I put it in my birth plan DO NOT CIRCUMCISE. The nurses still asked each time they came in the room, but I made it clear we were not interested.

same here