News
After 46 years of suffering, fistula survivor finds relief
19 May 20171
Statement
Hope, healing, and dignity for all
23 May 20171
News
Scaling Up the Humanitarian Response for Syrian Refugees
24 June 20121
News
UN calls for intensified efforts to end fistula
23 December 20141
Resources
Good Practices on Ending the Health and Human Rights Tragedy of Obstetric Fistula
Resource date: 2013
Author: UNFPA
Publisher: UNFPA
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.
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Resources
Report on the Meeting for the Prevention & Treatment of Obstetric Fistula
Resource date: 2001
Author: UNFPA, Columbia University, FIGO
Publisher: UNFPA
This report reviews the first meeting of international fistula experts in London in July 2001, which launched this initiative and focused on concrete actions to alleviate the suffering of affected women. It is our sincerest hope that together we can work to make fistula as rare in Africa and in all developing countries as it is in the industrialized world. We know that new partners will join us in this worthwhile initiative.