Current practice of neonatal circumcision in the Waikato

A survey of babies born in the Waikato revealed an incidence of neonatal circumcision of 7% in the first month. General practitioners performed 58% of these. About half were carried out before the baby left the maternity unit. Waikato maternity units had a wide variation in the rate of circumcision from 0-15%. Twenty percent of general practitioners offer neonatal circumcision as part of their services. Sixty-one percent of general practitioners said they try and dissuade parents from the practice. Also in replying to the questionnaire, of the 27 general practitioners who offered circumcision as part of their practice, six (22%) said they performed more than five circumcisions a year and 25% said they used a local anaesthetic.