Children's Hospital of Michigan Newborn Circumcision Clinic

The Children's Hospital of Michigan Newborn Circumcision Clinic provides one-on-one consultation, circumcision and procedure follow-up by a team of pediatric urologists, pediatric nurse practitioners and health professionals from The Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit.

A circumcision is the removal of the male foreskin. The Urology Clinic at Children's Hospital of Michigan can perform circumcisions on infants up to eight weeks of age. Your baby boy must be full term and in good health with no medical conditions. There are some situations that may require a circumcision to be delayed. For example, babies who are born with a defect of the penis and need to be evaluated by a urologist. The urologist may recommend performing the circumcision and correction of the penis defect in the operating room with general anesthesia which is performed after 6 months of age. If there is a family history of a bleeding disorder or the baby has bleeding problems, circumcision is delayed until it has been determined that the baby is not at increased risk of bleeding during the procedure.

The full service clinic includes a follow-up care program to evaluate that the baby is healthy post-procedure and is healing as expected.

What families should expect during their Newborn Circumcision Clinic visit: 

When you arrive at the Urology Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, your baby needs to be registered for the consultation and procedure. You will wait for you appointment in the waiting area. Your baby's name will be called and you will be taken to the clinic room. You and your baby will meet a Urology Nurse Practitioner and Pediatric Urologist. Before the circumcision, the provider who will perform the procedure will review the informed consent. This is a discussion of the reasons for circumcision, the benefits, risks, and alternatives to ensure that you understand what will happen during the procedure and questions can be addressed. .

During the initial consultation the pain control measures that will be used during and after the procedure will be discussed. Swaddling, oral sugar solutions, or Acetaminophen (Tylenol) may be given as well, but should not be used as the primary method of pain relief. Your doctor will use a local anesthetic such as a cream or injection.            

After the consultation and exam, the circumcision can be performed on the same day for healthy full term infants who have an anatomically normal penis without any other genital defects. The procedure takes about 15-30 minutes.  If your baby is circumcised, you will be given instructions on how to care for your son after the procedure. It is important that you follow those instructions carefully.