Launch of World Health Organisation (WHO) FGM and Obstetric Outcomes Study Paper

On Wednesday 7th June the WHO FGM and Obstetric outcomes study paper which the founder of FORWARD Efua Dorkenoo OBE was a contributor, was launched in the UK at the Home Office. The research was published in the Lancet, medical journal on June 2nd and is the largest, most controlled study ever undertaken on the implications of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) for the obstetric care of women affected. WHO is launching the research simultaneously in multiple countries across the world. The study involved 28, 393 women from six countries where various forms of FGM are practiced; Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal Burkina Faso, Kenya and Sudan. The published results have received wide support and interest from those dedicated to stopping this practice. In an interview with the BBC World Service, Efua Dorkenoo outlined the findings from this research and denounced justification of FGM on medical and religious grounds.

The launch was an informal opportunity to collect and share information on FGM, review the report findings and discuss its relevance for policy and practice. It also allowed those involved in the campaign against FGM, here in the UK, to make suggestions for future action. Overall there was a resounding 'call for affirmative action,' as the findings from the study were discussed.

What we knew but can now prove

FGM activists worldwide are likely to be grateful for the study as it provides verifiable evidence for the severe health implications of FGM which we have long known of. Also of great significance, as pointed out at the launch by Dr. Heli Bathija, from the WHO Reproductive Health and Research Department, and the study co-ordinator, the research confirms that, 'all forms of FGM are dangerous.' Previous claims that Type I and II forms of FGM resulted in few negative consequences have now been falsified; the evidence clearly states that all forms of FGM pose risks to women's health.

Furthermore Dr. Bathija presented conclusions of the study, citing evidence that FGM has a, 'serious impact on peri-natal deaths and highlighted that this gender based practice is also killing boys.' The research found that babies born to mothers with FGM have 15% to 55% higher death rates but as the research was conducted in hospitals where staff are used to dealing with women with FGM, it does not therefore reflect the worse situation of women and babies who deliver at home.

Adwoa Kwateng-kluvitse, Director of FORWARD, welcomed the research and recommended that this study be replicated in the UK, she continued that, 'We have anecdotal evidence that women with FGM have more postpartum bleeding and an increased need for caesarean sections but we need statistical evidence to support these claims.'

Future study in England and Wales

A study ascertaining the prevalence of FGM within England and Wales is currently being conducted by Efua Dorkenoo and will be published sometime this year. In conjunction with this report, the Department of Health has produced a CD ROM aimed at health care professionals. Jennifer Bourne, a Specialist Outreach Nurse in relation to FGM, who was present at the launch, reported that, 'There is still poor case treatment in hospitals of women affected, even in London, indicating the low levels of knowledge of this practice.' The CD ROM has the purpose of giving guidance for the mainstreaming of FGM into healthcare.

Armed with the research

FORWARD believes that the results of these important pieces of research must be used to encourage authorities and health professionals to focus on women's rights, both at home and abroad. There is a great need to ensure effective skilled attendance during deliveries which are high at risk due to the consequences of FGM, as well as to provide overall sensitive and appropriate health care for women affected by FGM.

By contributing to the hard and irrefutable evidence of the negative and damaging consequences of FGM these valuable pieces of research will assist the work of FORWARD and of other organisations advocating for an end to FGM.