Circumcision at NYC hospital almost made baby bleed to death, parents say

WCBS, TIM AND GABRIELLE GROTH, CNN

By Jennifer Bisram

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    NEW YORK CITY (WCBS) — A family says their newborn son nearly bled to death and is fighting for his life after he was circumcised at a New York City hospital.

Tim and Gabrielle Groth said their son, Cole, underwent the circumcision at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in Manhattan, where he was born on March 31.

Baby in critical condition after circumcision, parents say

Days after Cole’s birth, doctors placed a stent in him to address a known heart disease he was born with.

“Everything was going well,” Tim Groth said. “He was doing so well that he was cleared for discharge.”

Then, the couple said the hospital asked if they wanted their son to be circumcised, a routine procedure.

“We were called and asked if we wanted to move forward with circumcision, and we just said yes,” he said. “We weren’t aware of any of the risks. We didn’t really, no one told us that there were elevated risks for children with CHD.”

The day after Cole’s circumcision was one of the worst of their lives, the couple said.

“I walk in and he is extremely pale. He is crying like I’ve never heard before,” Gabrielle Groth said. “It was not my healthy boy I saw just the day before.”

“Throughout the night, for 10-plus hours, our son bled almost to death,” Tim Groth said. “The vital organs of his body lost blood and oxygen, and he suffered liver damage, kidney damage, brain damage … How does that happen in a cardiac [neonatal intensive care unit]?”

Hospital says it cannot comment

Cole remains in critical condition at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, his parents said.

“Due to patient privacy policies, we cannot comment,” the hospital said in a statement to CBS News New York.

Tim Groth said his newborn son undergoes daily transfusions and had four surgeries in the last week.

“Trying to understand how you could go from a circumcision, in what seemed like a stable baby, to crisis,” he said.

The Groths are waiting for the day when they can bring Cole home to meet his older brother, 2-year-old Bryce.

“I want him to know how strong he is and the strength he showed, and how much he fought,” Gabrielle Groth said.

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