<<I wonder how local anesthesia affects these babies & breastfeeding?>> In our hospital virtually all circs are done with local anesthesia. Our babies, too, are sleepy the day of the circ. Because of this the nurses know to get the baby back out to his mother to nurse as soon as the procedure is done, while the anesthesia is still in effect. I assume (and tell the mothers) that it's probably like having local anesthesia for a dental procedure--the numbing lasts for a little while, but once it wears off the cut area is going to hurt a great deal. Babies sleep to block the pain. We've noticed that the babies start waking up and nursing better sometime in the evening if the circ is done in the morning. I have been very surprised to read that apparently in many hospitals this is still being done with no pain control. Just out of curiousity (hope this isn't getting into the off-limits area), are the parents aware that no anesthesia is going to be used? There are just a couple of doctors here who don't use it, and when I have carefully relayed this information to mothers, they have been appalled. They have then known to ask their doctor "whether they use anesthesia," and if the answer is no, have requested another doctor for the procedure. Also, since there are many nurses on Lactnet who may have ethical concerns about non-religious circumcision, you may be interested in an organization called "Nurses for the Rights of the Child." They can provide information to nurses who wish to avoid assisting in the procedure. Their address is 369 Montezuma #354, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, telephone 505-989-7377, email [log in to unmask] Becky Krumwiede, RN, IBCLC, Appleton, Wisconsin [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]