Female circumcision and obstetric complications.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether complications at delivery are associated with female circumcision.


METHODS
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one women seeking family planning or antenatal care in three south-west Nigerian hospitals were interviewed and had a medical exam. The prevalence of complications at delivery for uncircumcised women and circumcised women with type 1 (partial or total removal of the clitoris) or type 2 (partial or total removal of the clitoris and part or all of the labia minora) were determined. Associations between self-reported complications at delivery and clinic-reported type of circumcision were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression.


RESULTS
Forty-five percent were circumcised; 71% had type 1 and 24% had type 2. Circumcised women had significantly higher risks of tearing and stillbirths when all pregnancies were analyzed.


CONCLUSIONS
Circumcised women experienced more obstetric complications, while there was no significant difference between women with type 1 and type 2.
Larsen
U
U
Department of Population and International Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. ularsen@hsph.harvard.edu
Okonofua
F E
FE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019093:Circumcision, Female / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004841:Episiotomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012306:Risk