With circumcision, this natural gliding mechanism is lost. The fact that the foreskin in infancy is usually non-retractile serves to protect the baby s glans penis from urine and feces during the period that he is incontinent. Women have a foreskin as well, which covers and protects their clitoris. It is alternatively referred to as the clitoral foreskin, clitoral prepuce, or clitoral hood. Penile development Development of the foreskin is incomplete in the newborn male child, and separation from the glans, making it retractable, does not usually occur until some time between 9 months and 3 years.
Infant circumcision interrupts natural penile development.
The uncircumcised penis is easy to keep clean. No special care is required. Intact genital hygiene for a male is easier and less time-consuming than either oral, feminine, or anal hygiene. Pediatrics , vol. No accurate statistical records are kept of infant circumcision complications.