Abstract
Circumcision (CIRC) is a commonly practiced painful intervention whose short term consequences are poorly understood. We examined the effects of CIRC on behavior of newborns and on interaction between mothers and infants (MI) on days 2 and 3 of life. 59 newborn infants randomly assigned to an experimental CIRC group (E) or a control delayed CIRC group (C) were observed with their mothers during 4 hospital feedings. Both mothers and observers were blind to the infants' CIRC status. Using a checklist, time-based sampling of concurrent behaviors for mother and infant yielded data in 5 interactive categories: feeding, gaze, facial expression, vocalization, and touch. Analysis revealed that during observations 1 and 2, before CIRC, E and C infants were identical in availability, a measure of alertness. However, at observation 3, 2 hrs after CIRC, the E group infants were less alert and were thus less available for MI interaction (p<.05). Yet, the maternal communicative behaviors were the same for both E and C groups during observation 3. These differences between E and C groups disappear by observation 4, 16 hrs after CIRC. Our data suggest that CIRC affects the infants, briefly, and does not significantly alter maternal behavior.
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Rogers, A., Moore, J., Boxerman, S. et al. 92 EFFECTS OF CIRCUMCISION ON MOTHER-INFANT INTERACTION. Pediatr Res 15 (Suppl 4), 455 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-00101
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-00101
