[lettie]

Originally Posted by katex

Just wondered Lettie .. have you ever been involved in the birth of a baby where the mother had been circumcised in this way ?

We get about 5-10 per year locally, usually asylum seekers from African countries or Middle Eastern women. Childbirth is horribly traumatic for these women and we tend to surgically separate the labia a few weeks before the due date in the UK. My mate worked in Abu Dhabi where they see this quite a lot. The women are cut at childbirth both downwards on the perineum, which is a traditional episiotomy and upwards to separate the labia, which is not the done thing here.

Of course, this practice is illegal in the UK and is often done to little girls when they are old enough to remember it, from about 8 years old. Ritual circumcision of males is done before the baby is a month old, in a lot of cases.

What makes me wonder is now, a significant percentage of western women who visit gynaecologists wanting vaginal or labial surgery. Believe me, requests for what the media have dubbed 'designer vagina' are increasing. I blame the Brazilian wax for this. Without hair, women can see that one labia is slightly bigger than the other which is totally normal, but they want them to be even..... I also see plenty of women who have clitoral piercings....eeeeeeew!!! Why are Western women prepared to put themselves through these kind of procedures and yet, berate other cultures for their practices.

I do not agree with FGM, it is completely barbaric in the way that it is done, causes problems in childbirth, sex and urination, infections and psychological problems are also common. However, I have to wonder at the stupidity at some of our own women who cannot accept that they are normal and want bits of labia removed etc........Makes me cringe..