Comfort Iyabo Amah Momoh, MBE (born c. 1962) is a British midwife who specializes in the treatment of female genital mutilation (FGM). Born in Nigeria, Momoh is a member of the British FGM national clinical group, established in 2007 to train health professionals in how to deal with the practice.[4] Until 2017 she served as a public-health specialist at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London.[5] She is the editor of Female Genital Mutilation (2005).
Momoh was born in Lagos, Nigeria,[2] to a Nigerian-Ghanaian family.[6][7] Her maternal grandmother died days before Momoh's birth,[2] and she was mostly raised by her paternal grandmother.[8]
In 1997, Momoh set up the African Well Women's Clinic at St Thomas's Hospital, dedicated to caring for women affected by FGM.[3][11] As of 2013, the clinic was seeing around 300 women a year and performing two defibulation operations a week, which involves opening a vagina sewn shut as a result of FGM Type III.[12][2]
In September 2017, BBC Newsnight raised questions about the examination of at least five children by Momoh. The programme explored the weight given by British authorities to the physical examination of girls for FGM and an allegation that the examinations caused trauma to children who had not in fact experienced FGM. Families were reportedly fearful of being accused and split up. Since 2012, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has required that child-abuse victims be examined by specialist doctors. Newsnight reported that Momoh had referred to herself as "Dr", although her doctorate is an honorary one, and that during a 2014 court case, the judge, James Munby, had criticized her evidence as unreliable.[5][21] Momoh responded that she had done nothing wrong and had nothing to hide. Nimco Ali, an anti-FGM activist, told The Times: "Comfort has led work to end FGM for over 30 years and has enriched the lives of countless women and girls. Attempts at character assassination of such a great woman [are] shameful."[1]
(2014). Katherine A. Zakhour and Comfort Momoh. "Female genital mutilation", in Maureen Dalton (ed.). Forensic Gynaecology. Cambridge University Press, 142–147.
(2016). Comfort Momoh, Olamide Olufade, and Patrice Redman-Pinard. "What nurses need to know about female genital mutilation", British Journal of Nursing, May 12–25;25(9):S30-4. doi:10.12968/bjon.2016.25.9.S30PMID27172505
