More than 500,000 women in Nigeria are living with obstetric fistula

Nollywood actress, Jennifer Okereke with some obstetric fistula patients

The 2018 International Day to End Obstetric Fistula was celebrated on May 23. Research indicates that the Northern part of Nigeria is more predisposed to obstetric fistula than other parts of the country.

According to Professor Oluwarotimi Akinola, President of the Society for Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria, the disease is one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can occur during childbirth. It is a hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum caused by prolonged, obstructed labour without treatment.

Obstetric fistula symptoms generally manifest in the early post-partum period. However, other equally severe symptoms such as psychological trauma, deteriorating health, increasing poverty, and social stigmatisation by family and friends, can and often do occur,” he said.

“Obstetric fistula can be prevented and in most cases, treated. Reconstructive surgery with a trained expert fistula surgeon can repair the injury with success rates as high as 90 per cent for less complex cases."

“The operation is difficult and expensive. The condition typically leaves women incontinent, and as a result, they are often shunned by their communities. Sufferers often endure depression, social isolation and deepening poverty. Many women live with the condition for years or even decades because they cannot afford to obtain treatment.

“It is advisable that a skilled expert is in attendance when there is such incidence so as to be able to manage the situation and ensure that a woman does not undergo labour for a long time,” he explained.

He advised that teenage pregnancy should be discouraged while calling on people to shun the use of traditional birth attendants or faith-based clinics that are not registered under the medical health association. In Nigeria today, only 38 per cent of women deliver under the care of skilled birth attendants, he said.

Also, Akin Jimoh, Programme Director, Development Communications Network asserted that “we need to end obstetric fistula in Nigeria by addressing all factors, from poverty to early childbearing, that predispose women, especially the girl-child, to this debilitating condition.”

Most fistulas are as a result of difficult childbirth and obstructed labour lasting more than 24 hours. Nigeria records no fewer than 12,000 new cases of fistula annually as a result of complications in childbirth.

According to UNFPA Nigeria, some 50,000-100,000 women sustain an obstetric fistula each year in the act of trying to bring forth new life. It is the most devastating of all pregnancy-related disabilities and Nigeria accounts for 40 per cent of fistula cases worldwide.

“Currently, there are about half a million women in Nigeria suffering from vesico vaginal fistula, VVF, according to the Ministry of Health.

“About 6,000 fistula repairs are performed every year in Nigeria but more than 148,000 women were on the waiting list for surgery (The Nigerian National Strategic Framework, 2008).

“Some of the VVF centres do not have enough beds or adequate electricity to operate. Government needs to increase the funding allocated to the health sector and implement provisions of various policies to address the needs of women and children.

“The annual International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, IDEOF, was set aside by the United Nations, as a day to rally support and draw attention to activities targeting the elimination of fistula around the world,” he said.

According to UNFPA, the theme of this year’s IDEOF: Hope, healing, and dignity for all, is, at its heart, a call to realise the fundamental human rights of all women and girls everywhere, with a special focus on those most left behind, excluded and shunned by society.

Credit: Vanguard Nigeria