Mariam* is 19 years old and she is severely visually impaired.
This is probably because her parents were first cousins. In 2019 she had an arranged marriage and was given a British Spouse’s Immigration Visa. She previously lived in Somalia. She lives with her husband’s parents and their extended family. Mariam recently became a young mother.
We met her at an Advice Clinic we arrange at the Dudley Road Eye Infirmary in Birmingham where she had gone for an appointment. She asked for our advice regarding family planning as she didn’t want more children soon. However, her husband and his family were expecting her to conceive again in the near future.
When Insight Society looked into her case it became clear that Mariam had been the victim of female genital mutilation when she was a child in Africa. The consequences of this had made her first pregnancy very painful. She gave birth in July 2020. Mariam hadn’t received much prenatal medical care during the Third Trimester of her pregnancy due to Covid-19 lockdown related disruption to NHS services.
Insight Society arranged for Mariam to see a female paediatrician and we provided a Somali speaking translator/chaperone for the appointment. This was arranged without her family’s knowledge or involveent. Later we arranged a private meeting with her husband to discuss the situation, again using Somali to prevent communication barriers arising.
NHS Family Planning Services have now arranged for Mariam to have a long-term contraceptive implant (Nexplanon) which is comfortable despite her FGM scaring. We are looking forward to continuing to support Mariam through the challenges of being a young blind mother in Birmingham. In the first instance we are helping her to learn to use English as a second language.
