Honestly, I've only seen it with the pipette, a glass tube that is used, and it is used briefly. I don't pretend to be a scholar with regard to what some very very "ultra" Orthodox communities do. I will add, however, that I am sure there is nothing inappropriate in intent. As with the pipette, I'm sure it is only done for a moment (not "sucking" in the vulgar sense).
The rabbis have had practical experience in performing circumcisions for hundreds and hundreds of years, and I am sure that is how the procedural traditions developed. I'm no M.D., but I believe there is a healthful purpose. This was confirmed today in my conversation with a rabbi who is also a medical professional. He informed me that the practice described has existed for centuries, and that Maimonides (the great physician and philosopher) described the traditional practice. He explained that the sucking was to draw out the inner blood to fully cleanse the wound, which was then to be wrapped or have ointment applied. Medically this apparently makes sense, to reduce the risk of infection. Recall that prior to the advent of antibiotics, infection was the greatest risk to the health of the child. Also, in former times the risk of herpes was much less than it is today, as ironically the modern use of antibiotics has significantly increased the incidence of oral herpes.
In the mid-19th century objections to the oral practice were raised in Austro-Hungarian Empire, and today the prevalent practice is to use the pipette instead. Only a small minority of some groups in the Chassidic and Yeminite communities apparently still insist on the traditional sucking method.
Today it has become an issue of strong disagreement even in the Orthodox community, with some claiming that the mouth can be disinfected if the traditional method is demanded. Other Orthodox Rabbis strongly oppose the practice, asserting that the risks today cannot be fully eliminated in this way. The article is therefore misleading, and it seems intentionally so. This is troubling.
For those of you who have never seen a ritual circumcision of a infant, you would be shocked by how fast the procedure is, when performed by an experienced mohel. If you blink, you will almost miss it, and the bleeding is normal. In contrast, when my non-Orthodox brother-in-law, a neonatologist, performed the circumcision on his son in what he represented to be a contemporary medical manner, it took much longer and there was blood everywhere.
