Doctor cleared of FGM and I feel so conflicted about it

[StrumpersPlunkett]

I have looked for a thread but can't find one.
he was the ob/gyn after her birth.
she had been mutilated as a child and upon request (not sure who from) he restitched.

NOW, is it ever right in the first place - no
but after 20+ (guess) years of having been stitched what damage is inflicted through birth and how can it be fixed? IF it was the ladies wish to be restitched (I don't know if that is the case) what should happen?

Blushing Perhaps there were no female doctors who could perform the surgery at the time of this medical emergency. The fact that the hospital was unaware of the FGM meant that they had no care plan in place to ensure female surgeons were present at the birth.

I can only imagine her horror at being sewn up by a male doctor as another encouraged him.

Where did you get the idea that there was another male stood there egging him on? After the procedure he sought the opinion of another (male) colleague who assured him he acted correctly. It doesn't even say that the person he consulted so much as looked at the patient.

Good point Blushing, but it can't be regardless of whether she disclosed her FGM. Unless she disclosed it, how were the hospital to know they needed to appoint solely female staff to her birth?

She may have arrived on the labour ward already in second stage with serious injury imminent.

In that situation it is a case of grab the most experienced medical staff available - there isn't always an experienced female obstetrician immediately to hand.

The lady may not have had any antenatal care - this would be not unusual in the catchment area of the Whittington.

The whole thing has been dreadful, with clearly very little thought and consideration given to the doctors or the patient.

I think that the hospital was incredibly insensitive in allowing two male HCP to attend her delivery

She presented with obstructed labour - an emergency. The on call doctor attended and she has made it clear that he saved her baby's life. Would you have preferred the baby to suffer hypoxia, cerebral palsy or death while they found a female doctor? There are minutes, sometimes seconds, to act in these emergency situations.

And what makes you think that a male HCP was insensitive in this case anyway? FGM is usually performed by women. For all you know, a female midwife who happened to be of Somalian origin would have triggered far more traumatic memories than a male doctor.

It is incredibly patronising to be outraged on her behalf about something that she is not upset about (given that she has stated that the doctor saved her baby's life).

From the Guardian article:
Dharmasena has been suspended from the medical register since he was charged. He has faced death threats since the public announcement of the prosecution, and still faces an investigation by the General Medical Council and possible disciplinary action.
This case should have never, ever reached court.
Clearly it was not his intention to mutilate her.

I think that the hospital was incredibly insensitive in allowing two male HCP to attend her delivery
Should every hospital have a spare female Obstetrician on hand in case a patient in a dire emergency objects to a male?! And this woman didn't object to a male doctor!

Ridiculous to think any obstetric emergency there is a female doctor on hand!

This doctor seems to have been doing his best and it's disgraceful he's been charged in the first place.

As said up thread FGM is generally performed by women as awful as that sounds.

This doctor was a soft target and a predictably cowardly act from authorities that repeatedly turn a blind eye to child mutilation and abuse for fear of offending religious/cultural sensitivities.

Disgraceful.

Most women on MN have antenatal care to a greater or lesser degree. There seems to be an assumption that all women in the UK are able to have antenatal care.

There are some areas of the country - especially parts of London and other large cities - where women do not have the opportunity to access health care or antenatal care.

Women arrive in hospital in obstructed labour, or with previously undiagnosed complications, whoever is on duty has to do the best they can at the time.

For example:

If you have to do a crash section on a patient who arrives in obstructed labour, who doesn't speak any English, do you risk her life and the life of the baby while you find an interpreter in order to get informed consent, or do you do the section, save two lives, but risk being accused and tried for assault?

Most people would probably say that it would be unreasonable to suspend the doctor and try them for assault under those circumstances.

I think that the above scenario is not dissimilar from this current case.

That poor doctor is still suspended from his job and has to face a GMC hearing.

Case dismissed in 30 minutes. Feel
Sorry for the Doctor. Makes a mockery of our legal system. Makes Alison Saunders look desperate and unprofessional. And hasn't helped the FGM cause at all.