Why Circumcision is Best Performed on Newborn Babies
Having a baby comes with a range of important decisions to make, some of them more urgent than others. If you have a baby boy, one of the things you'll need to decide quickly is whether or not to have your newborn son circumcised.
The benefits of circumcision are fairly well known—it makes personal hygiene easier, prevents certain diseases and infections and can make life easier as an adult. Despite this, it's important to think through your decision carefully and consider what's best for your child.
One important thing to remember, however, is that it's much better to have the circumcision performed within the first couple of days after birth than to leave it to your son to decide when he's an adult, or even to arrange it when he's an older baby. Here's why.
It's easier to perform
Circumcising a baby within a few days of birth makes the procedure far simpler than it does if you wait. Where circumcision is normally completed in under ten minutes with a newborn baby, it takes an hour for an adult.
The longer you wait, the more complicated and time-consuming the procedure becomes.
It's a safer procedure
With the time requirement and difficulty of circumcision increasing with age, so does the risk. Having it done right after birth is the safest time possible, so if you're thinking that it's probably what you want for your child, this is one of the most convincing reasons not to delay.
It prevents various problems in infancy
Although a lot of the health benefits that come with circumcision apply mostly to adulthood, that's not the case with all of them. One example is that babies who are circumcised are less likely to develop a urinary tract infection during their infancy.
Getting the procedure done as soon as possible means your child will be protected against UTIs and other conditions right away, so there's more chance of him having a healthy, happy childhood.
It stops the choice being taken away in adulthood
There are various conditions that mean a man will need to be circumcised, such as the foreskin being tight and painful. Unfortunately, these don't reveal themselves until puberty at the earliest.
If you have your baby boy circumcised, he will never experience an uncomfortable condition appearing in adulthood, and he won't be forced to undergo the more serious, painful process of adult circumcision. To learn more about circumcision, contact an organization like the Circumcision Academy of Australia.