The Impact of Female Genital Cutting on First Delivery in Southwest Nigeria

To date, data linking obstetric morbidity to female genital cutting in populations with less severe types of cutting have been limited to case reports and speculation. In this cross-sectional study, 1,107 women at three hospitals in Edo State, Nigeria, reported on their first-delivery experiences. Fifty-six percent of the sample had undergone genital cutting. Although univariate analyses suggest that genital cutting is associated with delivery complications and procedures, multivariate analyses controlling for sociodemographic factors and delivery setting show no difference between cut and noncut women's likelihood of reporting first-delivery complications or procedures. Whereas a clinical association between genital cutting and obstetric morbidity may occur in populations that have undergone more severe forms of cutting, in this setting, apparent associations between cutting and obstetric morbidity appear to reflect confounding by social class and by the conditions under which delivery takes place.