This might be more appopriate if it were in Activism, mods please move if you think so.
I have been thinking for a while of starting a letter campaign to the AAP. My idea is for as many parents as possible to write an anecdotal letter that tells of any of the following:
When making their decision whether or not to circ, they were not helped to be fully informed by their pediatrician. For example, they were never told the purpose of a foreskin, nor were they told what the procedure actually is (separation of the glans and foreskin).
When caring for your intact baby, the pediatrician or nurse has pulled the foreskin back, going against the AAP's guide to intact care. In some cases causing bleeding.
When you take your intact child to their pediatrician, you feel a lot of stress, worrying that someone will harm his penis.
You have received conflicting information regarding the care of your intact baby. For example, when my son had a mild infection, I received incredibly different advice from three separate doctors. One told me he would have to be put under gen. anesthesia and have the foreskin pulled back to "have all that stuff scraped out".
: The next two told me to give him an extra bath, one suggested putting some vinegar in the bath. His infection cleared within 48 hrs btw, with only the bath as treatment.
My basic goal is try and show the AAP that the medical profession needs to be more consistent, to have more updated knowledge of intact care, and needs to be giving out better information in order to help parents become fully informed in their decision.
This idea is just sort of rambling around in my head. I was hoping to get any and all advice/comments from you mamas on how this could happen. Would a list of questions that were answered by many moms then sent be better? Or simply a deluge of anecdotal letters? I am not so naive that I think a letter writing campaign will outlaw circumcision...
but I am just tired of being so frustrated with circumcision and would like to do SOMETHING. Please give me your input! Thanks so much!
I have been thinking for a while of starting a letter campaign to the AAP. My idea is for as many parents as possible to write an anecdotal letter that tells of any of the following:
When making their decision whether or not to circ, they were not helped to be fully informed by their pediatrician. For example, they were never told the purpose of a foreskin, nor were they told what the procedure actually is (separation of the glans and foreskin).
When caring for your intact baby, the pediatrician or nurse has pulled the foreskin back, going against the AAP's guide to intact care. In some cases causing bleeding.
When you take your intact child to their pediatrician, you feel a lot of stress, worrying that someone will harm his penis.
You have received conflicting information regarding the care of your intact baby. For example, when my son had a mild infection, I received incredibly different advice from three separate doctors. One told me he would have to be put under gen. anesthesia and have the foreskin pulled back to "have all that stuff scraped out".
: The next two told me to give him an extra bath, one suggested putting some vinegar in the bath. His infection cleared within 48 hrs btw, with only the bath as treatment.My basic goal is try and show the AAP that the medical profession needs to be more consistent, to have more updated knowledge of intact care, and needs to be giving out better information in order to help parents become fully informed in their decision.
This idea is just sort of rambling around in my head. I was hoping to get any and all advice/comments from you mamas on how this could happen. Would a list of questions that were answered by many moms then sent be better? Or simply a deluge of anecdotal letters? I am not so naive that I think a letter writing campaign will outlaw circumcision...
but I am just tired of being so frustrated with circumcision and would like to do SOMETHING. Please give me your input! Thanks so much!
