Obstetric Fistula
Obstetric Fistula (a.k.a. Vesico Vaginal Fistula) is a condition that results from internal damage caused by prolonged obstructed labour in childbirth (sometimes 5 days or more during which the baby inevitably dies). If a woman in a developed country has obstructed labour, she simply goes to hospital, where she may have a forceps delivery or a caesarean section. By contrast, obstructed labour in some remote third world country, far from medical help, places a woman in terrible trouble.
These women and girls (some as young as 10 years old) are then faced with a life of permanent incontinence; continually leaking urine and sometimes bowel contents. Some are crippled due to nerve damage. These ‘silent sufferers’ become outcasts in society, often deserted by their husbands, other family members and friends. Some are even considered to be jinxed. Many die of dehydration, infections or by taking their own lives.
The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital
The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital provides care for these ‘leaking women’ in Africa, and has done so since 1974. It is located in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. It is the only hospital of its kind in the world dedicated exclusively to women with obstetric fistula. It treats all patients completely free of any charge.
The Hospital was founded by Drs. Reginald and Catherine Hamlin both obstetrician/gynaecologists, from New Zealand and Australia respectively, and has treated over 30,000 women with a success/cure rate of over 90%. Today, the hospital provides free fistula repair surgery to approximately 2,500 women every year and cares for 50 long-term patients. Catherine Hamlin has chronicled the history of the hospital in her autobiography and she and the hospital have been the recipients of many awards and nominations.
What does it take to fix one woman?
On average a 30 minute surgery, 2 weeks recovery, and just NZ$400 (US$300).
To find out more about the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, visit the Hamlin Charitable Fistula Hospital Trust NZ website.
