The long wait for fistula surgery in Liberia
In Liberia, women like Lorpu face severe health complications and social stigma due to obstetric fistula, a condition caused by prolonged, obstructed labor. Despite the high prevalence of the injury in Sub-Saharan Africa, access to corrective surgery remains limited and difficult to obtain.
Why it matters
The story sheds light on the critical lack of maternal healthcare infrastructure in developing nations and the long-term suffering of women in these regions.
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
[MONROVIA, SciDev.Net] For more than three years, Lorpu* has lived with the constant leakage of urine and faeces caused by obstetric fistula, a debilitating childbirth injury.
The condition, where a hole forms between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum. can result from prolonged, obstructed labour, often when timely medical care is unavailable.
It afflicts almost 500,000 women and girls a year worldwide, with half of those in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Lorpu developed obstetric fistula after a lengthy labour in Sinoe County, southeastern Liberia, in June 2020, aged 17.
She endured hours of painful contractions with the baby trapped in her birth canal.
“I kept hearing the midwife say, ‘Push, push!’ until I couldn’t breathe,” Lorpu told SciDev.Net , struggling to hold back her tears.
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