We are blessed

Today I was reading an article in my SOJOURNERS magazine by Julie Polter.

Obstetric Fistula. Have you heard of it? It’s virtually unheard of in countries like Canada, but is sadly common in developing countries. Fistula is a medical condition that is a very real problem for an estimated 2 million women worldwide. These women go through an agonizing obstructed labor lasting days because the baby cannot pass through her pelvis. The baby is stuck either because the mother is a child who had been raped or forced to marry young... or has her growth been stunted because of malnutrition. At times, through the agony of the birth, the baby dies and the lifeless body is delivered.

During such a traumatic birth, the pressure of the baby’s head causes a hole. For the rest of the mother's life, urine and feces leak out of the hole and the odor is embarrassingly noticeable. The $300 operation to reverse Fistula is virtually unattainable for the majority of women who suffer from it. Many women struggle with depression, abandonment by their partners, families and communities, and live in isolation because of the constant leaking and odor.

We don’t hear about it here because we avoid it at all costs. We have found alternate methods to deliver the baby which liberates the mother of such a traumatic experience. The root causes of fistula are poverty, inadequate health care, and low social status of women. To see what The Fistula Foundation is doing, click here. They provide us with many ways to help, but more importantly, it makes us aware.