Female circumcision causes infant deaths
Female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation, is performed on as many as 3-million girls each year. A new study, released by the World Health Organization (WHO), reports that women who undergo the practice are as much as 70 percent more vulnerable to potentially fatal hemorrhage after delivery than are those who do not. Their babies are as much as 55 percent more likely to die during or immediately after childbirth.
According to WHO, as many as 20 out of every 1,000 babies born in Africa die as a direct result of their mother's circumcision.
The United Nations agency studied 28,000 women at obstetric centers in six African countries where female circumcision is common. While it's prevalent in 28 African countries, including Sudan, Chad, Sierra Leone, and Djibouti, female circumcision also takes place in some areas of the Middle East and Asia and in some immigrant communities in Europe and North America.
About 100 million women worldwide are estimated to have undergone genital mutilation, which can involve cutting away the clitoris and external genitalia and stitching the vaginal opening in order to reduce women's sexual appetite. Girls generally undergo the rite before the age of 10, often without anesthesia, and in unsanitary conditions where they are exposed to dangerous infections, including HIV.
Scar tissue that forms around the wounds can cause obstruction and prolonged labor, which increases the risk of caesarean section, heavy bleeding, distress in the infant, and stillbirth. The degree of complication increases according to the extent and severity of the procedure.
Many African nations have outlawed female genital mutilation, but few enforce the rules. (Senegal and Burkina Faso are exceptions.) WHO strongly opposes the practice, even when performed by doctors under sanitary conditions. According to Joy Phumaphi, WHO assistant director-general for family and community health, recommending that health professionals be involved in female circumcision would be endorsing an unacceptable practice.
"That is the worst possible thing we can do. It is worse than turning a blind eye," she said.