Some Mohels wait a week after count reaches 10, to do Bris?

amother

Mon, Sep 17 2007, 11:19 pm

And some Mohels do it immediately when count goes down to 10.

What are your experiences with either way? Which is more common? Which famous Mohelim wait a week, and which famous Mohelim do the Bris immediately when count goes down to 10?

chavamom

Mon, Sep 17 2007, 11:48 pm

amother wrote:

is there any danger in performong a Bris when count is 10?

There is actually no acknowledged medical danger when the count is 15 (or any other number)! But we have a mesorah not to do a bris on a baby that is "yellow". I'm not sure where the idea of it being "under 10" comes from, but maybe from back when that was the cut-off for being under bili-lights? My oldest had his bris when his bili level was over 12, but since it was down from 14 a few days earlier, the pediatrician said it was fine. I don't think anyone else got tested, except my son who is 5 - different country, different mohel and he came in at 11 the day before the bris. No one had a problem with it.

stem

Mon, Sep 17 2007, 11:53 pm

My nephew's mohel waited a full week after the numbers went down to 0. The baby was a month old by the time he got his bris! I've never heard of anyone else who does that though.

yOungM0mmy

Tue, Sep 18 2007, 7:24 am

My father has been a mohel for over 20 years, and said the danger of doing a bris before the jaundice is sufficiently low is a danger of hemorrage (sp?). I think they use the numbers as a general guideline, not that 10 or 15 is a magic number, but you really dont want to risk not being able to stop the bleeding, or that the wound should not clot properly.

greenfire

Tue, Sep 18 2007, 8:31 am

it took a minute to figure out what you were counting ... if the bris cannot be done in its proper time - waiting for optimum health is safest ...

chavamom

Tue, Sep 18 2007, 11:34 am

yOungM0mmy wrote:

This is really only partly correct. The question is, does the baby have jaundice as part of a bleeding disorder? Or a liver disorder? (chv'sh) 99.99% of infants have "physiological jaundice" from the breakdown of excess red blood cells that are needed in utero, but not once the baby is born. Elevated bilirubin itself is not a bleeding risk, but could (very, very rarely) be a symptom of a bigger problem.

myfriends715

Tue, Sep 18 2007, 1:32 pm

my son ( a twin) was born 12 days ago... 4 days after he was born the billi count went up to 19.8 Sad

he was nebach very sick and needed to go to the NICU for Billi lights but b"h hes out but the mohel said no bris until at least a week after discharge and then also depednedt on weight (his billi was down to 7

supermom

Tue, Sep 18 2007, 2:59 pm

My grandfather who is a mohel for over twenty five years. He told me as follows a baby that is yellow means that the baby has something wrong. Because of this the body has to fight off jaundice and might not be able to also fight off the bris. So it is wise not to go ahead with the bris. But depends on how high the numbers are how long they wait. If it is really high then they wait a week after it has lessened.

chavamom

Tue, Sep 18 2007, 4:21 pm

I would add again that *every* baby has some degree of elevated bilirubin - "jaundice" - during the first weeks of life from the normal break down of red blood cells. That's why they call it "physiological jaundice" - physiological means a normal body process. But it has to be distinguished from "pathological jaundice" which can result from a number of different problems.