An audit of patients with female genital mutilation receiving pregnancy care at two WA hospitals suggests staff are not following guidelines and need better training, write local doctors.

The audit of case notes for 53 women with FGM who gave birth during 2014 at either of the hospitals shows care for “this vulnerable population” can be improved, they say.

The audit found 0.3% of women at one hospital and 2.2% at the other presented to antenatal care with FGM, which indicated the need for midwives and doctors to be trained to deinfibulate women who required the procedure to give birth, they added.

Staff adherence to local guidelines for dealing with pregnant women with genital mutilation began well, 88% of the women being asked in the antenatal clinic whether they had been subjected to “cutting”.