Female child circumcision in Ilesha, Nigeria. The present and the future.

In February 1981, the external genitalia of 578 female children were examined at the child welfare clinic, Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesha, Nigeria. Of these children 96.5 per cent were under five years of age, and 66.3 per cent were circumcised. Of the circumcisions, 75.5 per cent had been done in the first month of life. "Traditional" surgeons performed 68.7 per cent of the circumcisions, and private clinic personnel, 21.1 per cent. In 49.6 per cent, circumcision had been done to prevent the head of any future baby from touching the clitoris at parturition, an event believed to result in early death of the neonate. In 48 per cent, circumcision had been done just to conform with custom. Of 175 mothers questioned, 82 per cent believed that an uncircumcised lady was more likely to be promiscuous than a circumcised lady.