Hundreds of women are set to benefit from free surgery to correct obstetric fistula in a medical camp organized at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The medical dubbed ‘No more Tears’ is camp organized by the County Government in collaboration with the Flying Doctors’ Society of Africa and Freedom from Fistula Foundation (F3). By Wednesday, 19 of the 33 women booked for the surgery had undergone the procedure.
The specialists led by Dr. Weston Kisia Wakasiaka, a gynecologist and obstetrician, said fistula is a treatable and curable condition yet most women continued to suffer in silence. He called for sensitization to create awareness among women to seek the corrective procedures. Other specialists at the camp include Dr. John Omboga, and Dr. Enock Ondari (KTRH acting CEO).
“Women with fistula undergo a lot of stigma and psychological trauma in society. The condition is common among women who prefer home deliveries as opposed to hospital deliveries. However, it is a treatable condition,” said Dr. Wakasiaka.
Dr. Ondari said the condition can be prevented if women women in labour are given timely obstetric care but the only cure was surgical procedure. The two week exercise at Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital started on September 12 and will end on September 26. Over 120 women have so far been screened.
One of the beneficiaries, 78 year old Priscah Ariga from Kitale said she had lived with the condition for the past 50 years. The smiling Mrs. Ariga thanked the County Government for granting her an opportunity to have her nagging problem solved.
“I have really suffered for 50 years. It has been agony being ridiculed and shunned in the community. I thank the organisers for this,” she said.
What Is Fistula?
An obstetric fistula is a hole between the birth canal and the rectum or bladder that is caused by prolonged obstructed labor, leaving a woman incontinent of urine or faeces or both.
For women with obstructed labor, labor that goes unattended, the labor can last up to six or seven days. It can also occur as a result of infections, trauma from rape and complications during surgery, tumours of the cervix and exposure to radiation.
The labor produces contractions that push the baby’s head against the mother’s pelvic bone. The soft tissues between the baby’s head and the pelvic bone are compressed and do not receive adequate blood flow. The lack of blood flow causes this delicate tissue to die and where it dies holes are created between the laboring mother’s bladder and birth canal and/or between the rectum and birth canal. This is what produces incontinence in a fistula patient.
