Uganda Childbirth Injury Fund

In Uganda, as in many countries in Africa, women often deliver at home or far from any medical help. If a woman develops obstruction in labour she needs an emergency caesarean section. If this can’t be done she may die of a ruptured uterus or deliver a stillborn baby after days of agony in labour. 

If she survives, she may find that she has permanently lost control of her bladder or even her bowel. The prolonged pressure of the baby’s head against the bony pelvis wears a hole between the bladder and vagina and sometimes the rectum. This is called a vesico-vaginal fistula. This will never heal, so she will be incontinent for life unless she can find someone to perform a surgical repair - not a straightforward operation and one which requires a particular specialist training to learn. 

Women with this condition are often abandoned by their husbands and give up all hope of being cured.