Infant circumcision causes over 100 deaths per year

[TCA2008]

Not that we need more reasons to just say no to infant circumcision....

Here is a newly published study about yet another harm from circumcision:


http://www.icgi.org/2010/04/infant-c...ch-year-in-us/

Infant circumcision causes 100 deaths each year in US

[titania8]

Crime against humanity. Glad, if I can stretch the use of that word enough to use it here, to have concrete stats though. Will be sharing.

[Pirogi]

Wow! I knew that circ could result in death, but I always thought it was a very VERY rare thing. 117 from circumcision complications, 115 from SIDS, 44 from suffocation, 8 from auto accidents. This blows my mind. Thank you for sharing.

I wonder where are those families? Why aren't they protesting, on the news, writing books, shouting from the rooftops?

[Anastasiya]

We need a bumper sticker to this effect, or something:

"Shouldn't we do all we can to protect our kids from becoming a statistic?

SIDS kills 115 US infants a year. Circumcision kills 117 US infants a year.

Keep them safe.
Keep them whole.
Keep them alive."

Yeah.

[Pirogi]

I wonder what the incidence of non-lethal complications is? (Other than the obvious 100% of circumcised males have healthy tissue removed. )

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

thats so sad all those poor babies dieting needlessly for what is essentially cosmetic surgery
r.i.p poor babies

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

Originally Posted by Pirogi

I wonder what the incidence of non-lethal complications is? (Other than the obvious 100% of circumcised males have healthy tissue removed. )

i'd assume quite a lot (not that i'm an expert) because if you think about it , it's an open sore and it's in constant contact with wee and pooh, i've heard of people having cuts on their hands getting infected from coming into contact with these things so i can only imagine what almost constant contact would do

[nd_deadhead]

Originally Posted by Pirogi

I wonder where are those families? Why aren't they protesting, on the news, writing books, shouting from the rooftops?

In some cases, I'm guessing they are sworn to silence by their lawyers, as part of a settlement with doctors/hospitals.

[fruitful womb]

Originally Posted by Pirogi

Wow! I knew that circ could result in death, but I always thought it was a very VERY rare thing. 117 from circumcision complications, 115 from SIDS, 44 from suffocation, 8 from auto accidents. This blows my mind. Thank you for sharing.

I wonder where are those families? Why aren't they protesting, on the news, writing books, shouting from the rooftops?

The AAP issued a warning about the choking hazards of hotdogs and grapes. Its mortality rate is the same as circumcision. Wheres that warning AAP?


Not one man/child/infant has ever died from having a complete set of male genitals.


You'd think an ELECTIVE procedure that can result in death would be banned by now. ?!

[jeminijad]

Originally Posted by Pirogi

I wonder where are those families? Why aren't they protesting, on the news, writing books, shouting from the rooftops?

My nephew died at 10 days old from massive sepsis of an "unknown origin." The only wound on his body was his circ.

Now, clearly, there is no guarantee that circumcision is what did it. Certainly the docs denied that there could be any connection! But I feel it is relevant because there likely are a number of similar uncategorized deaths each year that may actually belong in the circumcision column.

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

Originally Posted by fruitful womb

The AAP issued a warning about the choking hazards of hotdogs and grapes. Its mortality rate is the same as circumcision. Wheres that warning AAP?

Yes this is something that i always worry about, on the odd occasions my lo's had hot dogs i would chop them up into little pieces so they wouldn't choke and grapes i would chop in half.

[Crunchy Frog]

I wonder what the likelyhood is that this will ever make it into the mainstream media. I'm not going to be holding my breath.

[hollytheteacher]

Imagine what those poor babies are thinking/feeling for their short short life

[Norasmomma]

When I was talking to my mom about not circing our son I told her that 115 boys a year died from the surgery on average, it quickly changed her mind on it being *unclean*.

My DH did have complications as a baby, he was the only child out of 7 who was not allowed to go home with his mom. He had bleeding complications Luckily he healed, but that was a huge deciding factor with my son, and also I'm just greatly opposed to it.

How sad, completely avoidable deaths of tiny babies.

[MrsJewelsRae]

And people judged me as careless and reckless because we co sleep with our babies. Where is INFORMED CONSENT!!????

[Greg B]

Thanks for the link. This is a good reference to have in hand.

Too bad doctors don't point out this very real risk in this context.

Regards

[luckysgirl]

Originally Posted by TCA2008

Here is a newly published study about yet another harm from circumcision:


http://www.icgi.org/2010/04/infant-c...ch-year-in-us/

Infant circumcision causes 100 deaths each year in US

This is absolutely terrifying. We got a lot of grief about not circumcising when DS was born and we're already starting to get some flak from some family members really "hope you're gonna do the normal thing with the new one."

I just ask anyone who brings it up why they're so interested in my child's genitals. They shut up pretty quickly after that.

I used to try to educate my family about the risks evolved and how absolutely unnecessary the procedure is, etc. but quickly realized it was just falling on deaf ears. Still, I think I'm going to send this link to my father. It can't hurt.

[So-Called]

I'm glad to see this article, and I completely agree with the idea that even one death from RIC is criminal. I've long suspected that deaths and serious complications are significantly under-reported.

What I'm not understanding is the numbers and how they derived them. Last I checked, SIDS is ruled as the cause of a couple thousand infant deaths each year. Even if you only count the boys who die of SIDS, it stand to reason that there would be 1000+. All the numbers sound absurdly low, frankly.

I wish they had citations for this information, and went into more depth about how it was acquired. I don't see how anyone will take it seriously otherwise.

[Pirogi]

Originally Posted by jeminijad

My nephew died at 10 days old from massive sepsis of an "unknown origin." The only wound on his body was his circ.

Now, clearly, there is no guarantee that circumcision is what did it. Certainly the docs denied that there could be any connection! But I feel it is relevant because there likely are a number of similar uncategorized deaths each year that may actually belong in the circumcision column.

I'm so sorry. Although it came across that way, I did not intend to blame the parents or family of the dead for our society's continuing circumcision practices. I suspect that you are correct, that parents aren't told and records don't reflect the true reason for death many times. It is just such a shocking statistic, when taken in context of neonatal death rates from other sources. It is just so upsetting that so many babies die needlessley every year in the US, and by extension, that their parents seem to be suffering in silence. I think it could go a long way to change practices, if they began to speak out. It must be a very difficult thing to do, even if there is no monetary settlement requirement, to grieve AND overcome any guilt/shame AND have the courage and initiative to talk about their experiences. Circumcision breaks families, and it breaks my heart.

[Pirogi]

Originally Posted by So-Called

I'm glad to see this article, and I completely agree with the idea that even one death from RIC is criminal. I've long suspected that deaths and serious complications are significantly under-reported.

What I'm not understanding is the numbers and how they derived them. Last I checked, SIDS is ruled as the cause of a couple thousand infant deaths each year. Even if you only count the boys who die of SIDS, it stand to reason that there would be 1000+. All the numbers sound absurdly low, frankly.

I wish they had citations for this information, and went into more depth about how it was acquired. I don't see how anyone will take it seriously otherwise.

The stat on the website was for neonatal SIDS deaths, so that they can be accurately compared to neonatal deaths from circumcision. Neonatal is within the first month of life. On the other hand, a death can be classifies as a SIDS death if the child dies in the first year of life. I agree, I wish I knew how they arrived at the numbers, but this article is like any news article that reports on published research; it gives only a broad overview of the findings. We would have to go to the source and read the actual article in the Thymos to know how they arrived at the statistic.