The long wait for fistula surgery in Liberia

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.