NCHStats

NCHS has released a new report on estimates of male newborn circumcisions performed during the birth hospitalization. Using data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS), annual rates of newborn circumcision are presented for 1979–2010.

Key Findings From the Report:

• Across the 32-year period from 1979 through 2010, the national rate of newborn circumcision declined 10% overall, from 64.5% to 58.3%.
• During this time, the overall percentage of newborns circumcised during their birth hospitalization was highest in 1981 at 64.9%, and lowest in 2007 at 55.4%.
• In the Western states, the rate dropped to 40.2 percent in 2010 from 63.9 percent in 1979.  Rates in the Northeast were flat overall. In the Midwest, they mirrored trends in the national rate. In the South, they generally increased from 1979 until 1998 and then declined.

Circumcision is an important decision for parents of male newborns.  The choice is simple for some families because they follow their cultural or religious beliefs.  However, for other families this decision may be so clear.

Documented research has shown that male circumcision can reduce a males risk of contracting HIV and lowers the risk of other sexually transmitted diseases.

As a statistical agency, NCHS does not have a view on that particular subject but we do track male infant circumcision through our National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS).

NHDS reported that 65% of newborns were circumcised in 1999, and the overall proportion of newborns circumcised was stable from 1979 through 1999. In 2007, the NHDS found that 55% of male infants were circumcised.

For more information on male circumcision:

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/prevention/research/malecircumcision/

http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/prenatal/decisions-to-make/Pages/Circumcision.aspx