Vitamin K before circumcision? A Mohel's Perspective

 I am often asked if I will do a circumcision if the baby hasn't had a Vitamin K shot. [Hospitals tell parents different things, and not all parents want to give their child a vitamin K shot]

The answer is YES. And here is why.

More important and more complicated than the circumcision itself is the wound-care which follows. Circumcisions usually heal well, and while it sometimes takes a few weeks or even months for things to look "normal," none of that will happen if the baby's immediate post-op bleeding isn't tended to. Which is why a mohel's training spends much more time on bleed-control than on the mechanics of circumcision.

We have been circumcising our babies for THOUSANDS of years, and have developed excellent methods for wound-care, none of which ever took into consideration whether a baby had a Vitamin K shot.

I also have met MANY parents who do not want to give their child an extra shot, and certainly not one that they feel is unnecessary. 

On a different note - and this is my anecdotal experience - I have not seen a significant difference between the babies who had a Vitamin K shot and those who did not (on rare occasion the difference is discernible). Everyone bleeds, and everyone stops bleeding eventually. Some babies take a little longer, some a little less time. 

My goal is to return the baby to his parents at a point when he is clearly not bleeding, and when the final bandage is removed, for that removal to lead to minimal to no bleeding. As noted here, I remove the last bandage (or check him anyway if it has fallen off on its own) and give full instructions for how to care for him in the days to follow. 

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After posting, I subsequently came across this Facebook post.  Assuming this is all true, the history is astounding. And of course, that it became “standard” practice is typical (and also demonstrative as to why the parents who decline are in the right - though the baby would definitely benefit from being attached to the umbilical cord longer!).  The part about circumcision is relevant to this page, so of course it is worth sharing!