Mater Dei lacks a clear policy on how to handle cases of pregnant women who had genital mutilation affecting natural childbirth, according to midwife Antoinette Saliba.
She said “quite a number” of women who had FGM – a circumcising ritual common in Africa and other parts of the world – gave birth at Mater Dei.
The destructive operation partly or entirely removes the genitals to inhibit sexual feelings.
In some cases, the vagina is sewn almost completely shut – a process known as infibulation.
This has to be reversed for women to give birth but there was no policy on the timing, Ms Saliba said. The procedure could be done during pregnancy or in the first stages of labour.
You could see the tears in the eyes of the women, even after so many years
Speaking at a conference on FGM, held yesterday by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, Ms Saliba said the women in question were often very scared.
“They are so anxious and so afraid,” she said, noting that, so far, there were no reports of FGM having been carried out in Malta.
However, with the influx of migrants from countries where it was widely practised – such as Somalia and Eritrea – women living with the repercussions were now part of Maltese society.
Once these women gave birth it was against Maltese law for their vagina to be re-sutured, even though some husbands requested this to be done.
Ms Saliba, a University lecturer, added it was important to educate midwives and healthcare workers about FGM because it did not form part of the formal training curriculum.
Nurse Laura Pullicino agreed that education was key.
Healthcare professionals needed to be more sensitive, she said, recalling a time she took a migrant with FGM to a gynaecologist in Malta and he said: “What can I do for her? Why did she let them do it to her in the first place?”
Ms Pullicino, who worked with the Jesuit Refugee Service, said that, in 2007, she was involved in a project with the UNHCR in which she spoke to groups of women and men about FGM and explained why the procedure was not accepted in Europe.
They were shown a video clip of a girl, about five years old, screaming as she was held down by women while her genitals were cut and sewn.
“You could see the tears in the eyes of the women even after so many years.
“One woman recounted how she ran away for two weeks before the procedure but she had to go back and it was done,” she said.
Some women were angry that their culture was being questioned but others recognised the ritual should not continue.
Women spoke about the strong social pressure they felt to undergo FGM as, otherwise, they were isolated by their community.
They recounted their experience during intercourse, with some husbands slitting them with a knife to penetrate them.
Group sessions with men revealed that some believed FGM was done to stop women being promiscuous.
When they were shown the video mentioned earlier, some men could not stand the images and it turned out they never witnessed an FGM procedure.
One man said that, now that he saw how it was done, he would never make a woman do it.
Labour MP Chris Fearne said that, in September, he tabled a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to make FGM illegal in Malta.
Next week, the Bill will go through its second reading and is expected to become law as there seemed to be consensus in Parliament, he said.
“This is not taking a stand against something from a foreign culture but against something that is intrinsically wrong,” he insisted.