Another Infant Boy in Italy Dies After Home Circumcision

ROME (AP) — The Italian news agency ANSA is reporting that another infant boy has died in Italy as the result of a circumcision performed at home.

ANSA reported the newborn died overnight near the port city of Genoa after his Nigerian mother and grandmother called for emergency medical help.

A 5-month-old baby died last month in Bologna after his parents performed a circumcision at home, and a 2-year-old boy died of severe blood loss as a result of a botched circumcision in Rome last December.

Circumcision is not practiced among Italy’s Roman Catholic majority. Many immigrants in Italy are Muslim and practice circumcision for cultural and religious reasons, but sometimes have trouble accessing the practice in hospitals either for cost or because some doctors refuse to perform circumcisions until boys are at least 4.