Parents' Knowledge and Perception of Benefits and Risks Regarding Neonatal Circumcision
Parents' Knowledge and Perception of Benefits and Risks Regarding Neonatal Circumcision
The American Academy of Pediatrics changed their stance on circumcision to "health benefits
 of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks and that the procedure's benefits justify
 access to this procedure for families who choose it" (AAP, 2012).

 We wonder if parents are aware of guidelines such as those of the AAP. Are parents able to
 make this medical decision by weighing the risks against the benefits of circumcision, or do
 they simply use sociocultural/religious reasons to make this decision? We hypothesize that
 parents are unaware of the specific benefits and risks of circumcision, and make this
 decision based primarily on sociocultural, religious, and/or familial norms.

 Expectant parents' knowledge will be assessed via a Qualtrics survey. Participants will be
 recruited in the OB/GYN clinic sometime between their 24-28 week prenatal visit. We hope to
 accrue at least 680 participants for this study in order to achieve statistical significance
 and acquire a range of demographics. Expectant mothers and fathers (and single mothers) will
 be encouraged to participate.

 This survey will assess their desire to get their child circumcised when they are born.
 Participants will be asked to list perceived risks and benefits of circumcision. This will
 hopefully allow us to see two things: if parents are aware and knowledgeable of the risks and
 benefits or circumcision, and what they perceive to be risky or beneficial from a medical
 standpoint.

 Parents will be randomly given 1 of 2 pieces of information (1 per couple [or per single
 mother]; 1 control, 1 experiment) with different information about circumcision. We will see
 if there are any outcome differences based on which group the couple randomized into.
 Follow-up phone call will serve to assess outcome if baby was circumcised and any factors
 that led up to the decision. This will allow us to see if the AAP stance has any effect on
 decision making when we compare the control and experiment groups.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Subjects will be recruited from the Obstetrics clinic. All expectant parents of
 children are eligible to participate in this study. The study team will include those
 who do not know the sex of their baby and later exclude those who ultimately have
 girls from the final survey.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Exclusion is limited to parents with a child that has had a genital anomaly identified
 via ultrasound before the time of the research study, and parents that definitively
 know they are having girls.