Welcome to this site. It has been set up for women who have suffered from an Obstetric Fistula in a developed country.
The mantra for this website is Empower – Educate – Eradicate.
Rest assured you are not alone.
Welcome to this site. It has been set up for women who have suffered from an Obstetric Fistula in a developed country.
The mantra for this website is Empower – Educate – Eradicate.
Rest assured you are not alone.
I had a wonderful pregnancy, no complications at all. But when my waters broke, my wonderful pregnancy turned into a nightmare. I ended up having a very long labor and my son was not dilating and I knew my son was stuck. Intervention was needed, they ended up giving me an suction cap, episiotomy & epidural, which resulted in a fourth degree tear and a 5cm fistula. My son was born at night so they couldn’t get a colorectal surgeon in until the following day. Surgery was performed and all the nurses and doctors just said I had a fistula, bit like a broken leg, no biggy!@ I was in hospital for 8 days, lived in a wheelchair as I could not walk, my wonderful husband stayed with me and learnt to burp, look after our little baby as I couldn’t. My sons head was that bruised that no one could pick him up for 48hrs later. Ten days post op I was at home and as I was on laxatives, pain meds you name It, I was in horrific shock as I saw faeces leaking through my vagina!! I was told I had to live like this for months as they did not want to repair it as there was too much scar tissue and damage done. Four months later I went back to surgery with another failed attempt, then back again for another failed attempt then the last one was an overlap surgery and that one worked but resulted in most of my sphincter muscles losing all control of what I had. So years have passed I live with pain everyday due to the scar tissue/nerve damage. I know when I’m older that things down there will probably breakdown and I will need more surgery but hopefully they may have invented something better by then. I will leave all my tears, embarrassment and the awful life I had to live buried in the back of my head for now but I just wanted to say I’m so thankful for the women I met and helped me through my tears. I seriously thought I was the only one is a “developed” country to suffer this ordeal and it is my passion to educate and make people aware that this is still happening and prevention can be done.
Admin Sister of living with Living With Obstetric Fistula
I had a wonderful pregnancy, no complications at all. But when my waters broke, my wonderful pregnancy turned into a nightmare. I ended up having a very long labor and my son was not dilating and I knew my son was stuck. Intervention was needed, they ended up giving me an suction cap, episiotomy & epidural, which resulted in a fourth degree tear and a 5cm fistula. My son was born at night so they couldn’t get a colorectal surgeon in until the following day. Surgery was performed and all the nurses and doctors just said I had a fistula, bit like a broken leg, no biggy!@ I was in hospital for 8 days, lived in a wheelchair as I could not walk, my wonderful husband stayed with me and learnt to burp, look after our little baby as I couldn’t. My sons head was that bruised that no one could pick him up for 48hrs later. Ten days post op I was at home and as I was on laxatives, pain meds you name It, I was in horrific shock as I saw faeces leaking through my vagina!! I was told I had to live like this for months as they did not want to repair it as there was too much scar tissue and damage done. Four months later I went back to surgery with another failed attempt, then back again for another failed attempt then the last one was an overlap surgery and that one worked but resulted in most of my sphincter muscles losing all control of what I had. So years have passed I live with pain everyday due to the scar tissue/nerve damage. I know when I’m older that things down there will probably breakdown and I will need more surgery but hopefully they may have invented something better by then. I will leave all my tears, embarrassment and the awful life I had to live buried in the back of my head for now but I just wanted to say I’m so thankful for the women I met and helped me through my tears. I seriously thought I was the only one is a “developed” country to suffer this ordeal and it is my passion to educate and make people aware that this is still happening and prevention can be done.
Admin Sister of Living With Obstetric Fistula