Female circumcision may be a foreign concept to those of us born in the United States, however in many countries throughout Africa, female circumcision is considered a right of passage. A large percentage of young girls are circumcised every year. My purpose in writing this blog post is not to pass judgment on rituals of which I have no experience and little knowledge, but to share some insight into this practice from a midwifery and birth worker prospective.
I just watched a video showing the vaginal delivery of an infant born to a Gambian mother who experienced female circumcision! The mother has no clitoris and a great deal of scar tissue that actually shortened her vaginal opening. The scar was well healed, however the anatomical changes that occurred as a result of the circumcision made for a complicated birth of her baby girl. Although this is not a common issue that we as midwives in the US encounter, it is possible that throughout the course of one's midwifery career you may experience this. I serve a diverse population of women of color including women from the continent of Africa.
There are some practices that the MD used during the birth that I do not approve of but again, I am not going to elaborate on them as that is not the focus of this post.
What population do you serve? As a midwife, would you be able to serve a woman who has experienced this ritual without judgment?
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Can't wait to see more from this blog! I am a midwife who serves many women with female genital mutilation, though my current focus is supporting women around the world who are forced to have unassisted births in order to have successful VBACs in areas where midwifery is completely illegal. I may be the only midwife doing Skype-attended deliveries. It is at the moment the best I can do to help those women who are desperate to use their bodies, but need and desire support through it all after one or more cesareans.
ReplyDeleteI would never judge a survivor of the damaging practice of genital cutting - either female or male - as this would be victim-blaming at its worst. I do believe, though, that it is the role of a health care provider, as an educator, to gently inform the patient that their difficulties are a consequence of genital cutting, and encourage and support them in making better decisions for the next generation. To remain silent is to condone the practices, which while they may be of cultural importance to some, are usually performed non-consensually and kill an alarming number of women and infants worldwide. It is in everyone's interests that genital cutting is stopped as quickly as possible, while showing respect for survivors and their bodies.
ReplyDeleteUnnecessary C sections are just as much a "mutilation"! Just like a lady would not want to be judged for being mutilated by a dr., a midwife will of course not judge others.
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