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CONFERENCE PROCEEDING
Exploring the lived experiences of twenty-nine survivors of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting following their engagement with specialist FGM/C services in the UK: A PhD study
1
University of Nottingham, Department of health sciences, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Eur J Midwifery 2026;10(Supplement 1):A358
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
FGM/C affects around 230 million women worldwide, 5% of the global female population. Little research has explored women’s experiences of midwife-led FGM/C specialist service provision in the global north.
OBJECTIVES:
This study explores women’s lived experience of FGM/C specialist healthcare. It aims to inform the development of co-created midwife-survivor-led optimal models of FGM/C specialist healthcare.
METHODS:
Phase 3 of this PhD mixed methods study included 29 qualitative interviews with FGM/C survivors. Women were recruited from clinics across the UK. Ethnic origins of participants included Somalia, Gambia, Eritrea, Egypt, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Ethiopia. Women were aged between 21 and 64, the majority with Type 2 or 3 FGM/C. 55% were pregnant. Age of cutting ranged from infancy to 16. Interviews were conducted in English, Arabic, Somali, and Amharic, using community health advocates as translators. Reflexive thematic analysis of data Ethical concerns: Challenges of conducting inclusive research, acknowledging power dynamic between researcher and interviewees, and establishing distress protocols.
RESULTS:
Women commonly described lifelong pain and trauma, and had rarely heard of specialist care. Themes included:- "I thought that was normal" - where women were unaware health problems were caused by FGM/C and wanted knowledge of what was cut; "Stigma, silence and fear" - from their own communities and from healthcare professionals. "Feeling like I don’t belong" - navigating rigid hospital conveyer-belt systems embedded in structural racism, and discriminatory safeguarding policies; and "Wanting to be whole again" - rarely access holistic care, such as trauma and psychosexual therapy or reconstruction surgery.
CONCLUSIONS:
Women mostly described services as safe welcoming female spaces that were holistic person-centred, culturally-sensitive, and trauma-informed, where midwives were like family. However, they suffered a triple burden of stigma—rooted in their gender, ethnic identity, and lived experience of FGM/C.
KEY MESSAGE:
FGM/C specialist services are often marginalised reflecting the marginalised status of FGM/C survivors. SRHR - FGM
FGM/C affects around 230 million women worldwide, 5% of the global female population. Little research has explored women’s experiences of midwife-led FGM/C specialist service provision in the global north.
OBJECTIVES:
This study explores women’s lived experience of FGM/C specialist healthcare. It aims to inform the development of co-created midwife-survivor-led optimal models of FGM/C specialist healthcare.
METHODS:
Phase 3 of this PhD mixed methods study included 29 qualitative interviews with FGM/C survivors. Women were recruited from clinics across the UK. Ethnic origins of participants included Somalia, Gambia, Eritrea, Egypt, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Ethiopia. Women were aged between 21 and 64, the majority with Type 2 or 3 FGM/C. 55% were pregnant. Age of cutting ranged from infancy to 16. Interviews were conducted in English, Arabic, Somali, and Amharic, using community health advocates as translators. Reflexive thematic analysis of data Ethical concerns: Challenges of conducting inclusive research, acknowledging power dynamic between researcher and interviewees, and establishing distress protocols.
RESULTS:
Women commonly described lifelong pain and trauma, and had rarely heard of specialist care. Themes included:- "I thought that was normal" - where women were unaware health problems were caused by FGM/C and wanted knowledge of what was cut; "Stigma, silence and fear" - from their own communities and from healthcare professionals. "Feeling like I don’t belong" - navigating rigid hospital conveyer-belt systems embedded in structural racism, and discriminatory safeguarding policies; and "Wanting to be whole again" - rarely access holistic care, such as trauma and psychosexual therapy or reconstruction surgery.
CONCLUSIONS:
Women mostly described services as safe welcoming female spaces that were holistic person-centred, culturally-sensitive, and trauma-informed, where midwives were like family. However, they suffered a triple burden of stigma—rooted in their gender, ethnic identity, and lived experience of FGM/C.
KEY MESSAGE:
FGM/C specialist services are often marginalised reflecting the marginalised status of FGM/C survivors. SRHR - FGM
| eISSN: | 2585-2906 |
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