Do you think circ rate stats are true??

[WaitingForKiddos]

I keep reading that my area (southern ca) has a circ rate of about 50/50. Before ds the only baby boy I knew was intact so I figured the 50/50 was correct. Then I had ds. In my totally informal study based on 10 infact boys born in my county, at the same hospital, with about the same inome levels, with a date of birth between May-Aug of 2010, and exclusively breastfed the circ rate is......

90%.

Some were done in the hospital some at the ped. None are for religious reason.

[Thalia the Muse]

I suspect it is 50/50, but that it's not evenly distributed among different areas, income levels, and cultures. In Orange Country and Riverside, it's probably higher -- on the West Side of L.A. and in areas with many immigrants from places where routine circumcision isn't the norm, it's probably much lower.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

This is the latest statistics http://mgmbill.org/statistics.htm and it shows 33%.

[WaitingForKiddos]

See and that's why I'm so surprised that in this group of middle class women that has lots of different culturial backgrounds my little guy is the only intact boy. And I'm white, had a medicalized birth experience, has a circed hubby...I'm , according to the info I read the onevwho DOES circ.

[Night_Nurse]

No, I don't. I know I don't gain any popularity points for saying that but
I worked in OB for well over a decade (just got out of that field a few months ago) and I never saw rates anywhere near where they say they are.
I have talked to friends who work in other parts of the country in OB and they don't report really low rates either.
I also have called some hospitals throughout the country where the rates are supposedly the lowest in the nation. The lowest rate I was quote was 50/50. Obviously, my little experiment isn't a true picture of circ in the US but I think it's a realistic snapshot.
Heck, my local homebirth group even has a circ rate of around 50/50%.

The rates of circ are dropping, to be sure, but just because a baby isn't circed during a 2 day hospital stay doesn't mean it's not happening a week or month later in a doctor's office or a ceremony.

I think it would be awesome if others would call their local hospital or OB's office and ask for circ vs intact percentages.

[Fellow Traveler]

Originally Posted by Night_Nurse

No, I don't. I know I don't gain any popularity points for saying that but
I worked in OB for well over a decade (just got out of that field a few months ago) and I never saw rates anywhere near where they say they are.
I have talked to friends who work in other parts of the country in OB and they don't report really low rates either.
I also have called some hospitals throughout the country where the rates are supposedly the lowest in the nation. The lowest rate I was quote was 50/50. Obviously, my little experiment isn't a true picture of circ in the US but I think it's a realistic snapshot.
Heck, my local homebirth group even has a circ rate of around 50/50%.

The rates of circ are dropping, to be sure, but just because a baby isn't circed during a 2 day hospital stay doesn't mean it's not happening a week or month later in a doctor's office or a ceremony.

I think it would be awesome if others would call their local hospital or OB's office and ask for circ vs intact percentages.

I also don't think they're quite as low as we'd like. They are declining though but I think we're getting ahead of ourselves with the numbers. Perhaps if you looked at large enough groups in specific areas you would get numbers approaching the 50s. But Americans will fight this to the end.

[CellarDoor]

I'm also not convinced that the rates are really that low. I also live in SoCal, my dd goes to a super crunchy coop preschool and I've been *shocked* at who circ's and who does not. I'd say there are slightly more intact boys than not, but it's still shocking given the population.

[major_mama11]

I think it varies greatly by population. I used to work in a hospital with a large Hispanic population, and the circ rate really was only about 50%. Now I work in a suburban hosp, almost all Caucasian population- and during orientation was shocked to find that the circ rate is over 95%. I didn't get my little guy circ'ed, partially due to being so used to seeing intact little boys all the time at work at the first place! The difference is mind boggling, as these two hospitals are only a few miles apart...

[MarnieMax]

Originally Posted by major_mama11

I think it varies greatly by population. I used to work in a hospital with a large Hispanic population, and the circ rate really was only about 50%. Now I work in a suburban hosp, almost all Caucasian population- and during orientation was shocked to find that the circ rate is over 95%. I didn't get my little guy circ'ed, partially due to being so used to seeing intact little boys all the time at work at the first place! The difference is mind boggling, as these two hospitals are only a few miles apart...

This is also true in my experience (AP advocate, natural childbirth groups). I live in a very diverse area and a 20-mile drive can make a difference. In my case, however, one of them is unversity-centered, somewhat leftist and green, and the number of intact boys exceeds those who are circ'd, even though it is insured white middle class. In more traditional areas, the same white population must lean towards circ by 80%-85% (stats given to me by a ped).

[ancoda]

I think some states are probably higher then reported, but some are a bit lower then reported. I know a lot of woman who have homebirths with midwives and a lot that UC. The way I understand it both of these groups are not reported either way. Most of these woman do not circ their children. These would be the ones that would lower the rates if reported.
Then you have the people who wait till they are out of the hospital before they have their sons circed and most of these are not reported so that would raise the rates for those states.