FAQs

General questions

  • SafeCirc is a self-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly. Payment is required at the time of service.

    We do, however, provide families with a detailed superbill that can be submitted to your insurance company for possible reimbursement.

    Please note that our services are considered out-of-network, and reimbursement depends on many factors outside of our control — such as:

    • Whether your newborn is covered under a parent’s policy or has their own insurance plan

    • Your plan’s out-of-network benefits

    • Your deductible and individual policy terms

    Many families are able to receive partial reimbursement, but we recommend contacting your insurance provider directly for details about your specific coverage.

    At SafeCirc, every decision is guided by what’s best for your newborn and your family — not by cost or insurance restrictions. We provide the highest level of care in a calm, supportive setting, free from the limitations of the hospital and traditional insurance models. Our self-pay approach allows us to focus entirely on safety, quality, and your family’s experience.

  • We fundamentally support every family’s right to decide what’s right for their baby, and it’s our job to make it safe. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, current evidence suggests that the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks. The AAP, American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Family Physicians, American Urology Association, and World Health Organization each have similar policy statements supporting access to the procedure for families who choose it.


    (The American Academy of Pediatrics stated in its 2012 policy statement on male circumcision that the health benefits outweigh the risks. The policy statement expired in 2017 and has not been replaced; however, it remains the most recent formal policy issued by the AAP on this topic.)

  • Yes. SafeCirc® follows protocols developed with experts from Brown and Harvard. If families decline the intramuscular Vitamin K injection, we encourage the oral option. If all prophylactic Vitamin K is declined but parents agree to its use in an emergency, SafeCirc® will offer the procedure. We take extra steps to reduce bleeding risk, including using thermal cautery, tissue adhesive, a custom wound care protocol, and not using a dorsal slit in our procedures.

    While we’re on the subject, here’s an important note on Vitamin K physiology in newborns:

    At birth:
    Newborns naturally have low vitamin K stores because it crosses the placenta poorly. (This is why intramuscular (IM) vitamin K prophylaxis is standard to prevent hemorrhagic disease of the newborn.)

    After birth:
    Vitamin K levels gradually increase as the baby ingests vitamin K through breast milk or formula. By day 7, levels are generally higher than immediately after birth.

  • The SafeCirc® outpatient procedure is $750, reflecting our commitment to the highest standard of care. This includes:

    • Comprehensive, world-class education for parents

    • Thorough preoperative evaluation to ensure your newborn’s safety

    • A minimally invasive procedure that is safer, more precise, and designed to reduce pain and complications

    • 24-hour access to our team for any questions or concerns

    • A two-week follow-up appointment to ensure proper healing and peace of mind

    At SafeCirc®, you’re investing in the safest, most advanced care available for your child, guided by specialists in newborn male circumcision.

  • SafeCirc® offers comprehensive aftercare including 24-hour on-call physician support, detailed follow-up care to monitor healing, comprehensive education, aftercare instructions, and post-procedure appointments to ensure optimal outcomes. Our team is available 24 hours a day at (401) 417-0107.

  • SafeCirc® differs from hospital circumcision in several critical ways: it's performed in an outpatient setting anytime within the first 28 days of life (allowing time for bonding, recovery, and breastfeeding establishment), uses the safer Minimally Invasive AccuCirc® device (which is engineered to prevent device part mismatching), provides full transparency about procedures and methods used, includes comprehensive follow-up care and 24-hour support, and offers personalized care for families with specific needs (such as those declining Vitamin K injection, or needing specific care due to traditional or religious beliefs).

  • We want to make this care accessible to as many families as possible. Please contact SafeCirc® directly at 401-417-0107 for information about payment options.

  • There is no reason to rush this procedure — parents and babies need time to recover. At SafeCirc, we believe the first 24 hours of life should be spent bonding, not undergoing a procedure. 

    Our Center of Excellence allows parents to choose a day and time outside the busy, stressful hospital setting, allowing mom and baby to recover, so the procedure can be scheduled anytime in the first 28 days of life. We specialize in providing circumcision services for male infants within this age range. SafeCirc doesn’t perform circumcision procedures for children or adults.

  • Yes, we offer and encourage the use of lidocaine so the procedure can be painless for your newborn. To provide further comfort, we can accommodate breastfeeding before and after the procedure or the use of breast milk during the procedure and, alternatively, offer sucrose water depending on family and caregiver preference.

  • While our clinic is based in Rhode Island, families travel from across New England to receive our specialized care. Parents trust SafeCirc® for its unmatched safety, precision, and personalized approach to newborn male circumcision.

  • We understand the importance of convenience and personalization for families during such significant moments. Our team frequently performs circumcision procedures in homes, whether as part of a ceremony or to accommodate the newborn and family/caregivers' needs. 

    It's important to note that our In-Home service operates on a fee-for-service basis. For inquiries regarding rates or any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. We're committed to providing exceptional care tailored to your preferences and convenience.

Patient care

Clinic operations

  • The SafeCirc® Center of Excellence is located in southern Rhode Island (148 Main Street, Wakefield, RI, 02879), but we care for patients throughout the US and the world.  We are 30 minutes from TF Green International Airport, 1.5 hours from Boston, and three hours from New York City.

  • The SafeCirc® team can be reached 24 hours a day. To schedule a visit or call 401-417-0107.  We have availability every day for procedures scheduled by appointment.

  • SafeCirc is a self-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly. Payment is required at the time of service.

    We do, however, provide families with a detailed superbill that can be submitted to your insurance company for possible reimbursement.

    Please note that our services are considered out-of-network, and reimbursement depends on many factors outside of our control — such as:

    • Whether your newborn is covered under a parent’s policy or has their own insurance plan

    • Your plan’s out-of-network benefits

    • Your deductible and individual policy terms

    Many families are able to receive partial reimbursement, but we recommend contacting your insurance provider directly for details about your specific coverage.

    At SafeCirc, every decision is guided by what’s best for your newborn and your family — not by cost or insurance restrictions. We provide the highest level of care in a calm, supportive setting, free from the limitations of the hospital and traditional insurance models. Our self-pay approach allows us to focus entirely on safety, quality, and your family’s experience.

  • According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) findings from 2010, newborn male circumcision is predominantly conducted after hospital discharge worldwide. The immediate postpartum period can be overwhelming for parents and caregivers, necessitating flexible options for procedures like circumcision.

    In Rhode Island and numerous areas across the United States, newborn circumcision is commonly performed by OB/GYN physicians in hospital settings, with limited follow-up care. This often leaves pediatricians and Family Medicine physicians to manage any complications post-procedure.  Understanding this issue, our clinic offers the convenience of scheduling circumcision after hospital discharge, accommodating the preferences of parents, and ensuring optimal care for their newborns.

    At our outpatient clinic, we address these concerns by providing comprehensive care, including preoperative assessment, state-of-the-art surgical care, postoperative care, and 24-hour on-call continuous support. As a specialized Center of Excellence exclusively dedicated to newborn male circumcision, we uphold stringent standards in provider training, competency, and care quality, ensuring optimal outcomes for every newborn entrusted to our care.

Care, procedure, and technology

  • Dr. Tomlinson is an MIT-trained Mechanical Engineer and US Navy-trained Family Physician who has spent the last 20 years working to improve newborn male circumcision care.  While stationed in Newport, RI, Dr. Tomlinson developed an improved Gomco clamp that prevents mismatched device parts.

    When the World Health Organization concluded that circumcision prevents heterosexual transmission of HIV in 2007, they also asked for a safer device that could be used in resource-limited areas.  Dr. Tomlinson assembled a team of experts from around the World, including Dr. Anthony Caldamone, a leading Pediatric Urologist, to solve this problem.  The result of this effort is the Minimally Invasive AccuCirc® device and now the SafeCirc®Center of Excellence. Dr. Tomlinson (with the help of an international team) also wrote the surgical chapters for the WHO Manual on Early Infant Male Circumcision.

    Dr. Tomlinson is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and has been a consultant to the WHO, NIH, and Gates Foundation, and has developed newborn male circumcision training programs in Nigeria, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Kenya.  Dr. Tomlinson has been a staff physician at South County Hospital since 2007 and was named Physician of the Year and awarded the degree of Fellow from the American Academy of Family Physicians in 2015.

  • The Minimally Invasive AccuCirc® sets a new standard in male circumcision with its foreskin holder. This FDA-cleared, revolutionary improvement ensures precise tissue alignment by applying gentle pressure to hold the foreskin in place. By aligning the foreskin accurately before incision, providers reduce the risk of tissue discrepancies. To fully understand the device, please see our animated videos here.

  • Yes, extensively.  The first clinical trial was conducted at Hasbro Children’s Hospital under the direction of Dr. Anthony Caldamone.  Because of the importance of male circumcision in preventing HIV, the NIH and Gates Foundation sponsored two randomized controlled trials and two large field trials. These studies led to several publications, FDA clearance, and WHO prequalification. Please see the section on the history of the AccuCirc® for detailed references here.

  • Pediatric urologists have been advocating the use of a surgical pen to mark the site of the incision to avoid errors in removing too much or too little tissue.  In 1983, George Kaplan published a comprehensive review of the complications of newborn male circumcision and made the following recommendation: “Prevention of these errors is best achieved by marking the site of the corona on the skin surface prior to any incision.”

    The use of a surgical pen is mandatory in our clinic!

  • Thermal cautery emerges as a superior option for achieving effective hemostasis while minimizing complications compared to traditional silver nitrate and alternative methods. Our practice exclusively utilizes thermal cautery recognized for their safety and efficacy in newborn male circumcision procedures.

  • Pediatric urologists have been using tissue adhesive for infant male circumcision for many years.  One of the more common complications of newborn male circumcision is adhesion formation.  Tissue adhesive helps seal and protect the wound and promotes proper healing.  Tissue adhesive also helps reduce bleeding and makes caring for the wound easier for the parents/caregivers.

  • Dr. Tomlinson felt the same way, but during the Iraq War when many Navy providers were deployed and the few that remained were woefully understaffed, he was performing a circumcision after a night on call on the labor deck when he could not get a 1.3 cm shield to fit in his newborn patient.  In the middle of the procedure, he asked the nurse to get a 1.1 cm device and easily placed a 1.1 cm shield, but then had two clamps of different sizes on the field.  He chose the 1.3 cm clamp (the wrong one), the bell/shield fit in the yolk, the mistake was hidden by the foreskin, the nut tightened against the base plate, further creating the illusion that everything was OK.  The small shield passed through the larger hole, no crush was made, and there was no protection for the glans.  Thankfully, this patient was not injured, but this is how these complications occur despite the best efforts of the provider.

    The Minimally Invasive AccuCirc® is an engineering solution to this problem.  The device itself is engineered to prevent mismatched device parts, no matter what, protecting the provider and patient from this mistake and resulting injury.

  • Over the past 15 years, Dr. Tomlinson has served as an expert witness in 20 medical malpractice cases, all related to Mogen clamps and distal tip penile amputations. Witnessing the profound impact of this complication on patients, families, healthcare facilities, and providers, he emphasizes its devastating nature. Regardless of the provider's experience level, this injury can occur, with even higher incidence rates noted outside the US. This devastating complication, which only occurs with this specific circumcision device called a Mogen clamp, occurs and is reported every year in the US by the FDA. We will never use this clamp in our center. Ensuring newborn safety, the SafeCirc® Center of Excellence offers parents and caregivers a safer alternative.

    References to Mogen Clamp injuries:

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34486279/

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8657537/

    https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=17333882&pc=HFX