Female Genital Mutilation and Birth Complications, Jijiga Town, Eastern Ethiopia
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Date
2002-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), in one form or another continues to exist in
around 40 countries of the world. It is associated with different kinds of health problems which
manifest immediately or long after the wound has healed. Health hazards during delivery are
among the long term complications of FGM. With the objectives of assessing and comparing the
differential occurrence of birth complications among the different types of female genital
mutilation, a cross-sectional study using questionnaire was conducted on December 2001 in
Jijiga town among 913 women of reproductive age who had their first birth during the last five
years.
The proportion of women who were genitally mutilated was 96% with 52% of them undergone
the most severe type of FGM – infibulation. The rest 48% of women had undergone either FGM
Type I or Type II; i.e., they were genitally mutilated but not infibulated. Episiotomies occurred
among 61% of women who were delivering for the first time and 28.1% of women delivering for
the second time. The rates of instrumental and cesarean deliveries among the first-time deliveries
were 6.6% and 3.1%, respectively; while they were 3.2% and 1.3% among the second-time
deliveries, respectively. Among primi-parous women 36.2% reported having had complicated
postnatal period; 22.5%, prolonged labour; 10.3%, perineal tear and 9.8%, heavy bleeding.
Internal comparison between infibulated and non-infibulated women had shown that there was a
significant difference in the occurrence of hemorrhage and postnatal problems. It was concluded
that female genital mutilation in general and infibulation in particular were risk factors for the
occurrence of birth complications. Collaborative educational interventions were recommended
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Keywords
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)