Midwives who come across cases of female circumcision while attending births should be required to report it to the authorities, junior health minister Jet Bussemaker told MPs on Tuesday.

This would enable officials to place baby girls on the at-risk register, the minister said.
Initial research indicates three in 1,000 women giving birth in the Netherlands have had their genitals mutilated. Female circumcision is illegal in the Netherlands but it is unclear how widespread the practice is.