Posted on February 5, 2012 by Bree , Posted in Blog, Fistula Hospital, Fistula Surgery, Maternal Health, Niger, Obstetric Fistula ,
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The Danja Fistula Center in Niger officially opens on February 11 . . . and we are so excited! Our staff is already on site in west Africa making sure that everything is ready to hit the ground running for the first surgeries. The doctors and nurses are trained, the medicines have been stocked, the equipment have been set up, and the wards and treatment areas are sparkling clean to accomodate our eager guests.
Because the need for obstetric fistula treatment and care is so great, the first clinic and admittance day is actually on February 6 — five full days before the opening celebration. The Minister of Health will tour the facility and cut a ceremonial ribbon to mark the event. Surgery will begin on Tuesday and the grand opening will follow on Saturday.
Our executive director, Mark Shaker, wrote that there are already 42 women at the facility awaiting treatment. One woman in particular has been living with a fistula for 15 years and told the staff that she just cannot take it anymore. Although she knew the Danja Fistula Center wasn’t opening until February, she left her home at the end of December. It took her 30 days to travel the roughly 600 mile-distance to the hospital grounds. She ran out of money on day five and begged for food and rides until she got there. Mark wrote, “She could not stop hugging and thanking us.”
It is women like this — and supporters like you — who inspire us every day. Please continue to watch this space for further updates and donate today to help fund the Danja Fistula Center and bring an end to this horrific condition.
Posted on June 21, 2011 by Bree , Posted in Blog, Fistula Prevention, Maternal Health, Niger ,
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Findings from the United Nations’ recently released report The State of World’s Midwifery 2011: Delivering Health, Saving Lives are as sobering as might be expected: to fully meet the needs of women around the world, we need 350,000 more skilled midwives (112,000 in the neediest 38 countries surveyed). The report’s analysis of the maternal health situation in Niger, home to the Worldwide Fistula Fund’s new fistula hospital, is equally upsetting:
- Average life expectancy is 51 years and 63% of the population live below the poverty line.
- The country has a high fertility rate (7.8 births and 7.1 children per woman), high child mortality rates (198 per 1,000), high infant malnutrition and an insufficient number of skilled workers.
- Nearly 83% of deliveries occur outside health facilities. While large urban-rural discrepancies exist, 81% of these women receive no postpartum care. Only 18% give birth with a skilled birth attendant present (0.5% with a physician), and 53% receive no antenatal care.
- Access to health care is highly correlated to women’s wealth.
- There is one midwife per 1,000 life births.
There is good news, however. While still incredibly high, maternal mortality rates have lessened rather dramatically in the last 20 years:
Further, a recognized definition of a professional midwife exists, a government body regulates midwifery practice and a licence is required to practice midwifery — all of which helps spread the practice and profession of midwifery and help ensure women receive qualified, professional care.
How to Help
While the report shows that some progress has been made in Niger (and other sub-Saharan African countries), there is still an enormous amount of work to be done to provide all women with maternal health services before, during and after giving birth. In coordination with the opening of our new fistula hospital, the Worldwide Fistula Fund is developing a full-scale fistula prevention campaign to educate women in rural villages about the warning signs of obstructed labor and how to seek help. Among other outreach initiatives, our prevention campaign will also fund bush taxi service to deliver expectant mothers to hospitals as well as pay for the medical treatment the women receive at the hospitals.
Please help prevent the formation of fistula and lessen the rates of infant and maternal death by giving what you can to the Worldwide Fistula Fund. If you’d like to donate specifically to our prevention campaign, please visit our new giving catalog and choose “Fistula Prevention Outreach” from the options given.
