IMPACT OF FEMALE GENITAL hlUTILATION ON MATERNAL AND NEONATAL OUTCOhiES DURING PARTURITION

Abstract

Objective: To evaluatc tire impact of female genita) n~utilation on parturition and to create
awareness of iis implication on women and neonatal health.
Design: A crosh-sectional study.
Setting: Tikur Anbessa, St. Paul's a d Ghandhi Memorial hospitals between January and
December 1997.
Subjects: One thousal~d two hundred and twenty five mothers with and 256 without FGhl
who have had spontaneous, term, singleton and vcrtex vaginal delivrr~. Of these, 762
(51.57, ) were prin~iyaraand 719 (48.5W uf them multipara. The parameters focussed upon
included age, ethnicity, parity, type of circumcision, eyisiotomy. stages of labour, Apgar
scores and related complications.
K~suks: Thc study revealfd that 82.7 % of the subjects had one form of FGM. The mean agcs
fur the circu~ncised and nnn-circumcised werc 25.935.9 and 21.8k4.5 years, respectively. The
frequently perfurnled genital mutilation was typc I! (85.5 % ). The rnothcrs w hu required an
episiotomy incision for foetal and maternal indications among the circumcised accounted for
43.070 whercas it was only 24.6% for the referent group. The mean duration of labour by
conventional standi~rds is prolonged in primiparae and multiparae both in the circurnri~ed
and non-circumcised groups, tilough the second stage is delayed more so for the circumcised
category (pc0.05). Thc first and tenth minute mean Apgarscores seem to be more favourable
for the non-circun~cisrd 4p<0.05) but the perinatal mortality rates are quite similar. More
complications in terms of perincal tears., bleeding, incontinence and febrile iltnesscs arc
registered for the FGM.
Conclusions: The study demonstrates the negative impact of FCM more on maternal than
neonatal outcomes during parturition.