First of all, I must apologize to Paula for my excessive reaction to her
post to me.

I have been equally involved with the issues of breastfeeding and
circumcision for many years now.  There are many, many similarities
between the two.

Ignorance and misinformation abound, both in the medical community and
the general population, on both issues.

Both bottlefeeding and circumcision are interventions but, unlike with
most interventions, the burden of proof is placed, not on those who
propose the intervention, but on those who advocate non-intervention.
And, in both cases, the final decision to intervene is seen as belonging
not to the health-care professional, but to the parents.

The harm of both interventions, both immediate and long-term, has been
very well documented in the literature, yet many medical professionals
keep themselves in the dark about it and/or fail to inform parents.
Additionally, in both cases, avoidance of instilling guilt in parents is
used as an excuse for not informing them.

We have all seen cases where, if something is wrong and the baby is
breastfeeding, the breastmilk itsself is suspected as the cause and seen
as totally expendable.  The same thing happens when a baby who has some
sort of problem has a foreskin.

The integrity and/or sanity of individuals who actively promote both
breastfeeding and avoidance of circumcision is often questioned, both by
individuals and through the media.

An abundance of harm is done by the dispensing of false information,
both about management of breastfeeding and care of the intact foreskin,
yet those who dispensed the inaccurate information are usually seen as
blameless, while those who advocated breastfeeding or not circumcising
are given the rap for it.

The list goes on and on, but I hope you get the idea.

Sincerely,
Darillyn