A happy ending for Emama

There is a hidden epidemic of pelvic organ prolapse among women in rural Ethiopia

Emama thinks she is about 60 years old. She is the proud mother of six grown children, all lucky to survive her unattended births in her remote North Ethiopian village. Life was relatively happy for Emama and her husband until the progressive trauma of her birth injuries became impossible to ignore. Pelvic Organ Prolapse, or uterine prolapse, caused her uterus and vagina to hang outside of her body.

At first, I tried to hide it from everyone. I felt ashamed to tell what happened to anyone, even my husband. I separated beds with him, trying to manage it myself. The problem became my everyday worry for the past 10 years.

Prolapse is a childbirth complication with similar traumatic effects to obstetric fistula for women in Ethiopia. The lack of awareness and stigma around this birth injury disproportionally affects remote rural women without access to health care. The undesirable outcome of this is that over 95% of women with pelvic organ prolapse have reached the advanced stages where the organs protrude outside of the body. Most of these women are younger than 50, a third of them still less than 40 years old.

Hamlin surgeons are experienced at treating childbirth injuries such as pelvic organ prolapse, continually developing their skills in specialist women’s urogynaecology. After being identified through a patient identification campaign, Emama arrived at a Hamlin Fistula Hospital at Bahir Dar in January. Two weeks later she was cured through surgery.

I am so amazed by the services you provide here. We are served with everything we want; we eat delicious food on time, drink coffee, and are treated like a respected guest, not as a patient. The staff are always there by our side to ensure we are happy and safe. This is the best place I have seen in my life. Thank you for letting me be cured and enabling a happy ending for the rest of my life,” says Emama.

Imagine how different Emama's life could have been without the shame and isolation of birth injuries. The skills, care and compassion of a Hamlin Midwife in a community prevents needless suffering for women like her.