More mothers in developing countries living with fistula

 AN estimated two to three million women in developing countries are living with obstetric fistula, a condition that has been eliminated in industrialised nations.

After days of obstructed labour, a woman’s body is literally broken by childbirth. During labour contractions, the baby’s head is constantly pushing against the mother’s pelvic bone causing tissue to die due to lack of blood flow to this area. 

All of that pushing creates a hole (“fistula”) between the birth passage and an internal organ such as the bladder or rectum.

United Nations Population Fund executive director Dr Babatunde Osotimehin has called on the global community to “put an end to this injustice” in light of the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula today. 

“It is preventable and in most cases treatable and yet more than 50,000 new cases develop each year.

“The victims of obstetric fistula are women and girls usually poor, often illiterate, who have limited access health services, including maternal and reproductive health care.” 

Osotimehin said in the age of rapid globalisation, it was unbelievable that the poorest, most vulnerable women continued to suffer from this scourge. 

He said the vulnerable women were at the heart of UNFPA’s efforts to ensure that every pregnancy was wanted, every child birth was safe and every young person’s potential was fulfilled. 

“The persistence of fistula is a result of human rights denied and a reflection of human rights abuse,” he said. 

“It reflects chronic health inequities and health care system constraints, as well as wider challenges, such as gender and socio-economic inequality, child marriage and early child bearing, all of which can undermine the lives of women and girls and interfere with their enjoyment of their basic human rights.”