Doctors Endorse Removal Of Womb

Medical doctors have said that there are no health risks when women undergo hysterectomy (surgical removal of the womb  or uterus).

They also said there are situations that will make it necessary for a woman’s womb to be removed.

Already, there has been a report that women in Ghana have started having their wombs removed to prevent negative health conditions like fibroid.

A gynaecologist with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Dr. Dupe Ayodeji said there was nothing wrong when a woman who has reached the age of menopause or finished giving birth to children undergoes hysterectomy.

She said hysterectomy can prevent a woman from having  cancer of the womb.

She added that there are some medical conditions which can even make a doctor perform hysterectomy on a woman.

A doctor at Blue Cross Hospital, Ogba who did not disclose his name said that hysterectomy has no health implication. He said it can only have a psychological effect on a woman who would feel she is incomplete and can never conceive again.

He said it is normal for a woman to have fibroids which could be one or two but it is when a fibroid becomes big that it can cause problems.

“Fibroid could be harmful if not removed. It would make a woman to have a big tummy as if she were pregnant. It can cause excessive bleeding during menstruation, excessive loss of weight, chronic anaemia, and so on.”

Dr. Emmanuel Babajide Oguntade of Light Hospital, Egbeda also said there was no health risk for the removal of the womb, but advised against it.

“I have never heard of women who want to remove their wombs because they don’t want to have fibroid. Fibroid is a normal thing in woman. Once a woman starts her menstrual cycle, she develops fibroid; it is when it is big that it covers the uterus that makes it unable for a woman to conceive.

“The removal of fibroid from the womb is called Bilateral Tubal Ligation, BTL. Some women have their fallopian tubes removed, which is a form of permanent family planning.

“They will not be able to have any child with hysterectomy. I don’t advise women to carry out hysterectomy,” he said.

—Paul Dada & Ruth Dumku