Background Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an assault on womanhood. Objective To compare the obstetric outcome between parturient with genital mutilation with a cohort that has no genital mutilation. Materials and methods This cross-sectional prospective study was done in the labour ward of Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki between 1st January 2013 and 31st December 2013. The obstetrics outcome of 260 consenting healthy parturients with FGM in the 1st stage of labour was compared with 260 cohorts with no FGM and also in labour. Data were obtained with a structured questionnaire and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistic version 20. Simple percentage odd ratio and Chi-square were used for data analysis at a p-value of < 0.05. Results The mean age and gestational age of the women were 27.9 ± 4.8 years and 38.9 ± 1.5 weeks respectively. Majority of the women, 308 or 77.0%, belonged to social class 4 and 82.0% had Type 2 FGM. More than 90.0% of the women had a vaginal delivery and the 2nd stage of labour lasted more than 2 h in 13.4% of the women (OR = 0.78 95% CI 0.64-0.97). Parturient with FGM had increased odd of perineal tear (OR = 0.76 95% CI 0.63 - 0.91) and episiotomy (OR = 1.69 95% CI 1.17–2.45). The mode of delivery and neonatal Apgar scores were not significantly influenced by the presence of FGM (P > 0.05). Conclusion The study has shown that FGM in labour increases the odds of developing perineal trauma which may be associated with a host of short- and long-term complications. We recommend continued awareness creation to stop FGM.

Background: Cervical cancer is a major cause of death in the developing world. This high fatality is due to late presentation. It is believed that widespread screening of women for precursor lesion and early detection of the invasive disease can lead to a reduction in cervical cancer and cervical cancer deaths. This study assesses the knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical cancer among sexually active women in Onitsha Southeast Nigeria. Methods: Three major layouts in Onitsha were chosen as the areas of study. In these areas, 5 sites each where major economic activities take place were chosen for the distribution of the questionnaire. A total of 400 pretested questionnaires were administered to women who gave their verbal consent to participate in this study. The data were analyzed using SPSS package for windows version 11.0. Results: The result showed that 76(26.85%) of the respondents were aware of cervical cancer screening. Thirty six (47.4%) of the aware group knew that the test was a screening test for cervical cancer. There was significant association between the educational status and the knowledge of Pap test but there was no significant association between the educational status and the utilization of the Pap test. Conclusion:This study shows that there is poor awareness and utilization of cervical screening test in our environment. There is therefore an urgent need to establish an aggressive and sustainable awareness campaign on the preventive nature of cervical cancer and further establish an organized cancer screening programme.

INTRODUCTIONUterine inversion is an un-common complication of parturition which often occurs in the immediate postpartum period. The chronic (non-puerperal) uterine inversion is rarer and most times tumour associated.PRESENTATION OF CASEA 51-year old grand multiparous lady presented with a month history of abnormal vaginal bleeding associated with offensive vaginal discharge, lower abdominal pain and dizziness. The initial evaluation suggested severe anaemia secondary to advanced cervical cancer. Examination under anaesthesia (EUA), staging and biopsy was attempted but this was however inconclusive due to profuse haemorrhage. A repeat EUA revealed chronic uterine inversion secondary to fundal submucous uterine leiomyoma. Myomectomy was done with tissue histology confirming benign uterine leiomyoma. Two weeks later, a modified Haultain's procedure was done followed by simple hysterectomy and posterior colpoperineorrhaphy. She had satisfactory recovery.DISCUSSIONThis is the first reported case of chronic non-puerperal uterine inversion in our hospital. When it occurs, it is usually tumour associated with the commonest tumour being prolapsed myoma and leiomyosarcoma. The diagnosis is based on high index of suspicion.CONCLUSIONChronic uterine inversion is a rare gynaecological condition and can be misdiagnosed as advanced cervical cancer or other causes of severe genital haemorrhage in women. A high index of suspicion is needed for its proper diagnosis. Sometimes, an EUA and biopsy was required to determine the cause here and conveniently it could be described as a “gynaecolological near miss”.

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Knowledge, awareness and perception of STDs among 983 adolescent female high school students at Onitsha, Nigeria is analysed. There was good general awareness of the common STDs, HIV/AIDS: 93.6% (n=920), gonorrhoea: 76.3% (n=750); syphilis: 69.1% (n=679), while the least was chlamydial disease: 6.6% (n=65). Knowledge of causes of STDs was high. Viruses were identified as the most common cause of STDs by 75.3% (n=740) of the respondents, followed by bacteria by 64.1% (n=630), while 17.8% (n=175) of the students believed that poison/witchcraft caused STDs. Surprisingly, 35.5% (n=349) identified herbs and natural medicines as effective remedies for these STDs; 56.7% (n=557) identified antibiotics as treatment for STDs, 33.8% (n=331) antiviral drugs, while a high percentage of the students believed in prayer houses as a remedy: 30.3% (n=298). The most common source of information was through the school: 80.6% (n=792), followed by television: 80.1% (n=787); radio accounted for 73.1% (n=719) and health workers for 64.1% (n=630). Awareness about preventive measures was as follows: abstinence 67.4% (n=663), mutual fidelity 56.7% (n=557) and condoms 54.8% (n=539).