Health Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation: Mothers’ Experiences and Awareness in Oyo State

Abstract

This study examined health consequences of female genital mutilation: Mothers’ experiences and awareness in Oyo State. The health belief model (HBM) served as the theoretical road map for the study. Cross sectional research design was employed. A mixed study involving both quantitative and qualitative research approaches was adopted. A sample size of 1143 mothers were selected using multi-stage sampling procedure. Two research questions and one hypothesis were raised to guide the study. Questionnaire titled: Experiences and Awareness of Health Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation Questionnaire (EAHCFGMQ, α = .865) was used to collect data. Interview guide was also employed. Results showed that 54.2% have high level of experiences of the health consequences of FGM while 45.8% have low level of experiences of the health consequences of FGM. 53.0% have good level of awareness of health consequences of FGM while 47.0% have poor level of awareness of health consequences of FGM. There was a significant positive correlation between mothers’ awareness of the health consequences of FGM and their experiences of the health consequences of FGM (r = .705, P<0.05). It was concluded that mothers’ level of awareness positively correlates with their experiences of FGM. It was recommended among others that mothers should be more enlightened on the health consequences of FGM and health care should be provided to those who have had negative experiences of FGM.