Obstetric and neonatal outcomes of women with FGM I and II in San Camillo Hospital, Burkina Faso

PURPOSE

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is still performed in the world. Women who underwent FGM have marked psychological, gynecological and obstetric consequences. This article contributes to the spread of knowledge about obstetric and neonatal outcomes in women with FGM I and II.

METHODS

Our observational study compared the obstetric outcomes of 85 women with FGM I and II (case group) and 95 women without it (control group). We evaluated age, need of oxytocin during labor, duration of the expulsion phase, need of episiotomy, weight of the newborn, Apgar score at birth, resuscitation of the newborn, stillbirth. We observed the rate of cesarean sections and their main indications. We compared the rate of cesarean sections among the cases and the controls.

RESULTS

Controls were younger than women who underwent FGM. Intravenous oxytocin injection was higher in cases. The expulsion phase was longer in women with FGM than in the controls. FGM is related to a higher risk of episiotomy. Apgar score 9/10 was more frequently assigned to babies from mothers without FGM. There were more resuscitated babies and more stillbirth in the group of cases. Ten percent of all women underwent cesarean section. FGM is related to a higher incidence of cesarean section.

CONCLUSION

FGM is associated with a higher risk of gynecological and obstetrical consequences, acting on women's health and also on the economy of resource limited countries. Because of migration, health professionals could interface with women who underwent FGM and have to know their related complications.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency and sickle cell disease in Burkina Faso

Where malaria is endemic, there is an unexpected association between haemoglobinopathies and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficiency. Their coexistence in a patient with sickle cell disease (SCD) can lead to hemolytic anemia, hemoglobinuria, sepsis, renal failure and vaso-occlusive attacks (VOA). The aim of this research was to determine the impact of G-6-PD deficiency in SCD patients. That is why, we screened haemoglobinopathies and G-6-PD deficiency in 7 villages and at 10 primary schools in Kadiogo Province, Burkina Faso. Hemoglobin electrophoresis was performed on blood from 18,383 people. From these results, we chose 342 subjects for a hemogram and the measure of the G-6-PD activity. The results were analyzed with Epilnfo-6 and Spss-10. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. We found a prevalence of 28.9% of Sickle Cell Trait (SCT), 1.3% of Major Sickle Cell Syndromes (MSCS), 12.3% of G-6-PD deficiency among women and 20.5% among men. We did not detect a statistically significant difference for counts of erythrocytes (p = 0.773), leucocytes (p = 0.227) and reticulocytes (0.292); hemoglobin levels (p = 0.998); annual vasoocclusive attacks (p = 0.869) between persons with SCD having a G-6-PD deficiency and those with normal G-6-PD activity. According to this study, G-6-PD deficiency does not seem to increase the severity of SCD. However, these patients should know their G-6-PD genotype in order to avoid consuming oxidative drugs that might provoke oxidative stress.