Monday, October 26, 2009
Fistula Care
I got married when I was 15. I got pregnant one year later. After the baby died, I went back to my village and two months later my husband married another woman. I lived with my mother. When I came to, I was very happy. I knew this was the place where I would get cured. It has been 15 days since my operation and now I am dry. When I am cured, I want to go back home and continue my education. I want to study and I want to become a doctor like the doctors here and help girls like me who have this problem. -Abeba, Ethiopia Fistula Hospital
Mouima is from, and lived with an obstetric fistula for 28 years. When her husband discovered that she was constantly leaking urine, he rejected her. Returning to her parents' village, wrapped in layers of cloth as a diaper, Mouima relied on her family for constant assistance. Mouima would eat and drink as little as possible to try to avoid leaking fluids. Because she suffered from constant dehydration and malnutrition, she often fell sick. Guinea
1.Obstetric fistula usually occurs when pregnant women in labor do not have access to midwives or other medical professionals. After several days of labor, the tissues of pelvis are compressed between the baby’s head and mother’s pelvic bone. This eventually creates hole which results in leakage or urine or feces.2.The results can be catastrophic. The baby usually dies. Because women cannon control the leaking of urine and feces, women are often abandoned or neglected by their husbands and families. They are also often unable to work, and ostracized by their communities.
3.Surgery to treat fistula is very inexpensive. It only costs $300-450 per person to fully treat fistula.
4.The world capacity to treat fistula is estimated at 6,500 fistula repair surgeries per year.
5.Fistula used to be very common in the United States and European countries. Now it is very rare in these countries, and far more common in countries with high poverty rates, including Africa, West Asia and Arab countries.
6.Gender discrimination plays a part in obstetric fistula, because women are not able to access contraceptives or able to decide where they will give birth.
8.There are at least two million women currently living with fistula throughout the developing world. Because fistula affects women in the most remote regions of the world, an accurate count is very hard to achieve. The most common estimate is that 100,000 women worldwide develop fistulas every year, though some estimates put the number closer to 500,000.
9.Prevention, rather than treatment, is the key to ending fistula. Making family planning available to all who want to use it would reduce maternal disability and death by at least 20 per cent. Addressing social issues that contribute to the problem - such as early pregnancy, girls' education, poverty and women's empowerment - are important areas of intervention as well.
9.Prevention, rather than treatment, is the key to ending fistula. Making family planning available to all who want to use it would reduce maternal disability and death by at least 20 per cent. Addressing social issues that contribute to the problem - such as early pregnancy, girls' education, poverty and women's empowerment - are important areas of intervention as well.10. Engender Health is working for change by training doctors, strengthening the capacity of hospitals, raising awareness in communities and hospitals, and supporting women as they reenter family and community life. They have a $70 million grant to support their efforts.
