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Labor of Love: Ending Fistula in Mozambique
Beatriz was only 15 years old when she fell pregnant, but complications arose during labor. The prolonged and obstructed delivery resulted in a childbirth injury known as obstetric fistula - a hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum. She suffered with the condition for 6 years, until a reparative surgery finally changed her life.
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Fistula in Africa song
Baay Bia (from Senegal), in collaboration with the Fistula Foundation, produced this song featuring Adiona Maboreke (Zimbabwe), Alvina Gachugu (Kenya), Roseliane Vavy (Madagascar), Wendy Harawa (Malawi) and Mamadou Deme (Mauritania) for the fistula awareness campaign.
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During the Tigray conflict, Yemane Mihret, 26, experienced a desert birth, leading to obstetric fistula. Luckily, she received successful surgery in Mekelle, supported by UNFPA's initiatives to address fistula in the war-torn region.
For twenty years, UNFPA has led the global Campaign to End Fistula, which aims to eliminate fistula by 2030 through prevention, treatment, social reintegration of survivors and advocacy programming.
Take a look at the Q&A story featuring Dr. Paul Musoba, a young fistula surgeon at Solwezi General Hospital in the North Western Province of Zambia. He shares both his professional and personal insights into obstetric fistula and discusses his work surgically repairing women and girls who have been affected.
Explore the story of Hayat Peter, a registered nurse for the past 22 years, who has dedicated her career to ending obstetric fistula in Juba, South Sudan and accomplished her big moment of assisting fistula patients in regaining their dignity during this process.
Discover the story of Pemba, Sojina, and Jamila - three women who has suffered and battled with obstetric fistula and successfully returned their lives to normal with UNFPA and its partner’s supports.
Fernanda didn’t realize she had an obstetric fistula until seeking medical support. Her brother, a health technician, recommended she get medical care where she learned she had fistula and received repair surgery after two long years of suffering.
Monica Kaleso loved to go to school. She studied hard and never missed class. Her dream of becoming a medical doctor was on course until 2013, when, at the age of 17, she began a relationship with a man from the same village of Kadammanja.
Twenty-three-year-old Kodi Moumdau took shelther at the National Fistula Centre in the outskirts of Niamey, the capital of Niger. She can consider herself amongst the lucky women who have been treated for and survived an obstetric fistula condition.