Part 11
Continued from last week
Sex and reproduction:
In a busy outpatient Gynaecology clinic, a Professor asked a young lady that had been investigated exhaustively for primary infertility a few questions concerning sex with her husband ; was sex more frequent around mid cycle, and regular? She answered in the affirmative. When asked if she enjoyed sex with him, she said there were no problems, but asked to recall two three times she experienced orgasm, she claimed such things only happened between couples who are not born again. With controlled anger, the Consultant Gynaecologist referred her to the counselling unit .
Inability to reach orgasm during penovaginal sex(aorgasmic coitus) has been found to be associated with certain cases of infertility. Particularly in women married to men with borderline or low sperm count, the little sperm cells produced (normal ejaculate should fill up a teaspoon) may also have problems with morphology as well as with motility. Ability of the couple to achieve pregnancy may in that situation depend on the ability of the woman to create enough negative(sucking )pressure in the endo cervix, uterus and up to the outer fallopian tube so sperm cells can swim up stream and fertilize ovum. Without adequate counselling the chances of this occurring are lower in conditions of persistent aorgasmic coitus.
Infection in the genitor urinary tract introduced during genital manipulation , cutting or mutilation is capable of blocking the fallopian tubes, the inner walls of which are liable to become organised and plastic in the growing female child. When that happens, even the uterus could become underdeveloped. The result is infertility or abortions(miscarriages) during the life of the woman
During pregnancy, nearly all organs of the body are increased in size; some more than others. The clitoris and the adjoining small lips of the vagina are no exemption; the observed changes are physiological and except in the case of the breast and other major organs, will come back to pre pregnancy status. During the third(last) stage of normal labour , baby’s head stretches every thing in the opening of the birth canal . For large babies(normal birth weight of Nigerian babies on the average=3.5kg), a mother may suffer lacerations or bruises in the areas at the top, bottom and sides of the vagina. These may involve significant bleeding when they involve prominent blood vessels. Doctors prevent these by giving neat surgical cuts and repairing them almost immediately after. In women that have had genital cutting, the protective cushion offered by the structures that are removed is taken away. Back of baby’s head comes into direct contact with the under surface of the pubic bone and because the pain felt in this region is different from the pain felt as a result of contraction of the uterus(womb), the woman pushes baby out even at the risk of having the cervix torn to pieces and bleeding to death because she is simply unable to bear the agonizing pain. Post partum pain is also more severe for the same reasons
Conclusion
In spite of the efforts by governments, individuals and organizations to remove the falsehood and myth about female genital cutting ,inform and educate the public about the dangers associated with the practice , many communities in Nigeria have refused to break with tradition and embrace change. Ignorance , poverty and failure of Governments to enforce rights of the child are responsible for the situation and must be reasonably considered if the resistance to change can be overcome.
It is clear from what has been discussed in this article that removing the clitoris does not dampen a woman’s appetite for sex because other parts of the body are designed by the creator to behave in exactly the same way as the clitoris. Cutting away the clitoris in some women creates instead, situations where it becomes difficult to understand and define sexual arousal in terms of commencement, peak etc. The wound that is caused heals with scar formation and the resulting distortion brings about chronic pain and mixed sensations that do not respond to treatment. The bottom line is that once in an atmosphere of sex, the woman with an amputated clitoris finds her emotions oscillating ; if it manages to ascend, it might reach a level where it hangs and then it may take days to stabilize. The clitoris like other organs of the body affects emotional health and vice versa. It should therefore be left undisturbed so that the body remains emotionally balanced.
Recommendations
It is time governments and legislators organized an update on the rights of children.
Many of our Moms and Dads are not aware of the child right acts ,and so children die every day from circumstances that are avoidable from neglect to acts of omission and others that could have directly or indirectly caused death.
Emphasis should be on educating the girl child and the illiterate woman.
When a child is dying and a mother refuses to sign consent for the child to have a unit of blood transfused for reason the church forbids it, and the child goes on to die, there should be an aspect of the child rights act strong enough to hold the parents accountable.
As soon as the bag containing non sterile equipment was opened, Shanice the five year old girl mentioned in the first part of this article sensed danger. She was not ill, and could not have seen any reason why any one would want to do anything drastic to make her well. She made to rise but was held down, as could be observed in the accompanying photograph; and so helplessly the little girl, went through trauma to have a part of her body cut off and thrown away against her will. Shanice is alive, but a very angry woman; a Prophet in the Holy Bible stood and faced four hundred men, but when challenged by one angry woman, he fled the city. Details of what went between the parents whose responsibility it was to protect Shanice could not possibly be known, but usually, these issues are forced down on husbands. Except for a small number of educated men and women, it is much easier for a man to break with traditional practices considered harmful, compared with women. The current government must therefore do all that is humanly possible to ensure that education for the girl child is placed on the priority list. With the quality of education in this country persistently on the decline, it is time the Federal government did a review of the current policy on education to capture the poor who unfortunately are the majority. Let there be free education for all at least up to secondary school level .
Health education should be given a pride of place by governments at all levels . It is unfortunate that in churches, mosques and other religious places of worship where families congregate, topics on human sexuality are considered taboo. It is my opinion that these places where individuals are likely to take matters seriously, basic and relevant aspects of male and female sexuality and where and when necessary sexual health should be discussed.
Also, Schools and institutions of higher learning should be allowed to provide information on sexual health ,provided such information is strictly age appropriate and delivered under the supervision of equally appropriate and relevant authorities.
Health education must in this matter be made to cover a wide range of subjects including the fact that female genital cutting in addition to producing a sexually dysfunctional woman does the exact opposite of what is generally intended; syndrome of ever burning desire .
