WHAT IS OBSTETRIC FISTULA?
"Obstetric" pertains to labor or delivery. "Fistula" is a hole or pathway.
Obstetric fistula is one of the worst things and yet, you probably have never heard of it. Think of every woman you have ever known who has needed a Caesarean Section (C-Section). Imagine now, if your loved one, your sister, mother, wife, daughter needed a C-Section, but could not get one.
In remote areas of developing countries a woman with obstructed labor may not understand the need for surgery or be empowered to go to a hospital. Instead, a woman suffers unimaginable pain for up to a week. If the woman survives, the infant usually dies. Where the infant presses upon her bladder or rectum a hole will form, making a fistula to the vagina. This leaves the woman incontinent of urine and/or stool.
This picture shows a simplified image of a baby inside of a woman’s pelvis, illustrating obstructed labor. As you can see, the bones of the baby’s head are larger than the bony pelvic outlet. The baby can not get out without a Cesarean Section. If a woman in obstructed labor does not get a C-section, either she or her baby will die, and she may develop an obstetric fistula, which is a terrible childbirth injury.