Is there an association between female circumcision and perinatal death?

• Published in: Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2002-01, Vol.80 (8), p.629-632
• Main Authors: ESSEN, Birgitta, BÖDKER, Birgit, SJÖBERG, N.-O, GUDMUNDSSON, Saemundur, ÖSTERGREN, P.-O, LANGHOFF-ROOS, Jens
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Africa; Africa, Eastern; Africa, Eastern - ethnology; Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin; Biological and medical sciences; Birth weight; Childbirth & labor; Children; Circumcision; Circumcision, Female - adverse effects; Clinical Medicine; Cohort Studies; Delivery. Postpartum. Lactation; Disorders; Eastern: ethnology; Emigration and Immigration; Environmental Health and Occupational Health; Episiotomy; Female; Female circumcision; Female: adverse effects; Genital mutilation; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Health; Health Policy & Services; Health Sciences; Human; Humans; Hälsovetenskap; Immigrants; Infant; Infant Mortality; Infants; Klinisk medicin; Labor complications/etiology; Labor Complications: ethnology; Maternal and infant welfare; Medical and Health Sciences; Medical records; Medical sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Mortality; Mothers; Non-U.S. Gov't; Noncitizens; Obstetric Labor Complications - ethnology; Obstetrics; Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine; Patient outcomes; Pregnancy; Reproduktionsmedicin och gynekologi; Risk Factors; Scars; Somalis in Sweden; Stillbirth; Support; Sweden; Sweden - epidemiology; Transients and migrants; Tropical medicine; Vagina; Women; Womens health
• ISSN: 0042-9686; 1564-0604
• DOI: 10.1590/S0042-96862002000800006

In Sweden, a country with high standards of obstetric care, the high rate of perinatal mortality among children of immigrant women from the Horn of Africa raises the question of whether there is an association between female circumcision and perinatal death. To investigate this, we examined a cohort of 63 perinatal deaths of infants born in Sweden over the period 1990-96 to circumcised women. We found no evidence that female circumcision was related to perinatal death. Obstructed or prolonged labour, caused by scar tissue from circumcision, was not found to have any impact on the number of perinatal deaths. The results do not support previous conclusions that genital circumcision is related to perinatal death, regardless of other circumstances, and suggest that other, suboptimal factors contribute to perinatal death among circumcised migrant women.