After the bris, I will give you written instructions, and talk you through the aftercare. I think you will find it all pretty straightforward and quite manageable. Here are the main points:

Day 1 (the day of the bris) :

The baby has a pressure bandage around the shaft of the penis, which I will remove immediately after the bris.

I have protected the newly exposed head of the penis with some Vaseline and gauze. Please do not touch this gauze unless it gets soiled. When this happens, remove the soiled gauze, and replace it with a clean gauze and a generous dollop of Vaseline.

When the baby passes urine, there will be a red stain on the gauze. You do not need to change the gauze at this point. As he passes more urine, the stain becomes pinker and pinker (as opposed to red or purple).

If a child bleeds (this happens rarely), the blood will form a clot in the nappy. This clot will be dark, sticky and plum coloured. I will ask you to check your son every 2 hours on the day of the bris to check for bleeding. If you do see any of this dark, sticky blood please give me a quick call and I will deal with it appropriately.

Feed and change your son normally. I have put him in 2 nappies to give extra padding. Don't bathe him today. Most babies after the bris are quieter than normal, which will allow you to get some rest. Some babies are not and may require some infant paracetamol to make them more comfortable.

The next few days :

Carry on using Vaseline and gauze for 6 more days. Keep him dry and use 2 nappies for 2 more days, after which time you can bathe him normally.

What next:

Once I leave today, the baby should be in no more pain. Wound healing will still take about 2 weeks, and during that time the penis may still look red and swollen. There may also be a yellow mucus discharge around the shaft of the penis which is called granulation tissue and is completely normal.

I run a follow-up session in my home about a week after the bris.