Circumcision in the hospital is here often on the second day of life, which
also is "going home" day and "ensure feeding is happening before disharge"
day --and my experience as a postpartum hospital  lactation consultant is
that it is totally disruptive.  At least in large part because all that is
going on at the same time.  At least in some part from the concentrated
sugar water and pacifiers used during the circumcisions (and then the
pacifiers conveniently left in the bassinet when baby is return to mother,
which I often see in those babies' mouths 3 days later at my clinic
appointments -"thought we were supposed to use it because the hospital gave
it to us"). And we've reinforced mother-baby separation at a critical time.

Jewish circumcisions being on the 8th day are at a much different period:
usually held in the home, procedure much faster while infant held in arms,
breastfeeding is at a much different stage, as much recovery time as needed
after in a safe comfortable place.  In my experience my son, and all the
baby boys at the circumcisions I've been to, breastfed immediately after for
comfort (to mom and baby...) and the circs weren't an obstacle to
breastfeeding.
The MDs in the pediatric clinic I work in do circumcisions on babies up to 1
month of age.  While the clinic version is far less "comforting", if you
would, than the Jewish version, the  babies breastfeed well immediately
afterward (and they are given "sweet-ease" sucrose during the procedure).
In the 12 years I've worked in the clinic, I've never had a referral for
breastfeeding problems associated with a circumcision done after hospital
discharge. (As opposed to seeing many babies feed poorly after a circ in the
hospital on day 2).

So I don't think the issue is the circumcision procedure itself as a being a
general detriment to breastfeeding (independent of what you think of
circumcision in general).
I believe we should argue against any elective procedures that involve oral
interventions (sucrose, pacifiers) and maternal-child separation, before
breastfeeding is well-established, and especially on day of discharge
--including circumcision.

Maybe one aspect of the cultural sensitivity (as well as accurate
attribution) needed in this discussion or in WAB is to not imply that
circumcision done after hospital affects breastfeeding, so as not to induce
unnecessary fear that a religious circumcision or other later circumcision
will affect breastfeeding.

Susan Lawrence, RN, LLLL, IBCLC

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