News

A new mobile app brings the digital revolution to adolescent maternal care in Uganda

Team GetIN members (left to right) Hope Kirabo, Busingye Joshua, Gift Mbabazi and Donald Rukanga during a field visit to Kanungu district. © UNFPA Uganda

08 April 2016

News

A conversation with UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Ashley Judd

24 March 2016

News

The chain of hope: Treating obstetric fistula in Cameroon

A woman hugs a health worker after her successful fistula repair surgery. ©UNFPA Cameroon

23 February 2016

News

Harmful traditions contribute to traumatic birth injuries in Chad

Micheline Yotoudjim (left), a fistula survivor, helps other women with obstetric fistula through the treatment process. Here, she sits with a woman at the National Centre for Fistula Treatment in N'Djamena, Chad. © UNFPA/Ollivier Girard

07 January 2016

News

Overcoming fistula: A survivor’s remarkable story

Carleta Eugenio Francisco has reclaimed her life after recovering from an obstetric fistula. She is now a community activist, helping to improve the health of women and girls in her community. © UNFPA Mozambique

20 May 2015

News

Obstetric fistula: The road to recovery – and respect

Dr. Nazneen Begum and Dr. Ruksana Khanum check on patients at the National Management Centre for Obstetric Fistula. For many women suffering from obstetric fistula, treatment is not enough. Skills training and counselling are essential to overcoming the stigma and isolation related to the condition. © Nicolas Axelrod/Ruom for UNFPA

22 May 2015

Statement

Statement on the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula by Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund

23 May 2015

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News

Scaling Up the Humanitarian Response for Syrian Refugees

Syrian refugees receiving supplies in Northern Lebanon. Photo: UNHCR/F. Juez

24 June 2012

News

UN calls for intensified efforts to end fistula

Fistula survivors who have recently received treatment now participate in a livelihood programme in National Center for Fistula Treatment, N'Djamena, Chad. The programme aims to successfully reintegrate survivors into their communities. © UNFPA/Ollivier Girard

23 December 2014

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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