Descrição

Obstetric fistula is a severe morbidity caused when a woman or girl suffers from prolonged obstructed labour without timely access to emergency obstetric care, notably a Caesarean section. The sustained pressure of the baby’s head on the mother’s pelvic bone damages her soft tissues, creating a hole – or fistula – between the vagina and the bladder and/or rectum. In most cases, the baby is stillborn or dies soon after birth, and the woman suffers a devastating injury – a fistula - that renders her incontinent. The consequences of fistula invariably leave the victim ashamed, ostracized and alone. Many women and girls who suffer from fistula are excluded from daily community life and abandoned by their husbands and families, isolating them socially and emotionally and making it difficult to maintain a source of income or support, thus deepening their poverty and magnifying their suffering.