SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Reuters - Sudan's midwives told to stop genital mutilation on mothers after birth
Reuters reports that Sudanese health experts have called for Sudanese midwives to stop performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on new mothers – a practice known as reinfibulation.
Nafisa Bedri, professor in reproductive health at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman, said reinfibulation “puts the woman at risk if she delivers again and makes sexual relations difficult.” Bedri said they are working with religious leaders to explain that FGM is not an Islamic requirement.
Sami Momin, secretary general of Sudan’s Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society, highlighted complications including “cysts as big as lemons, infections, bleeding, injury to the urethra, painful sex and inability to orgasm.”
Community midwives are said to convince women that reinfibulation would make them look “neat and beautiful” again for their husbands, leading Momin to say the practice is fuelled by polygamy and that community midwives rely on reinfibulation as additional income as they do not receive a salary.