A mother opened her baby's nappy to find he was circumcised without her permission.

A mother has described the shock she felt on discovering her son had been circumcised without her permission.

The anonymous mother, from Nottingham in the UK, said she found blood in her son’s nappy.

“I opened the nappy and I ended up having to leave the room because I felt hysterical,” the mother told BBC News.

“It was just awful really, it wasn’t very nice, there was all blood there and stuff.”

The baby boy was circumcised in July 2013 at three months old while reportedly staying with his Muslim paternal grandparents.

Three people have now been arrested, however, the Nottingham mother first approached authorities in 2014.

A 44-year-old man and 47-year-old woman believed to be the boy's paternal grandparents are suspects.

A 61-year-old man - thought to be a doctor - has also been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent, according to the BBC.

All three suspects have been released pending further investigation, police said.

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Circumcision of males is legal in Australia but the procedure is only to be performed by a medical practitioner.

"The legal acceptance in Australia and New Zealand is based on clearly established rights of parents to make decisions about medical treatment for their children," says the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) policy statement on circumcision.

"Society may however decide to place limitations on the scope of such parental choices if significant harm results from such choices."

The report states that newborn and infant male circumcision is legal and generally considered an "ethical procedure".

Circumcision has been undertaken for religious and cultural reasons for many thousands of years but in Australia and New Zealand, the rate has fallen in recent times.

It is estimated that currently 10-20 per cent of newborn male infants are circumcised, according to the RACP.

How do you feel about circumcision?