An often-untold story is the impact of civil conflict and violence on childbearing women.

Please note this story contains distressing information.

“Look at me now, I am the happiest woman in the world! I walk around with confidence and dignity. Now I can work and change my life.” – Mulu Obstetric fistula stole Mulu’s joy, confidence and relationships for 17 years. Today, because of you, Mulu is regaining her health, happiness and sense of self, after […]

Obstetric fistula can devastate the chances of a woman having marriage and children in the future. Marriages are often broken by the tragedy of losing a first baby in childbirth. With no foreseeable prospects of physical recovery, women are often abandoned by their husbands. Miskiya and Nejat are a story of hope. Miskiya and her […]

In 2020, Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia and UNFPA Ethiopia formed a partnership to combine efforts to improve maternal health outcomes for Ethiopian women living with untreated obstetric fistula injuries. This three-year joint project focuses on improving access to fistula for Ethiopian women, as well as reaching more women for screening and referral of cervical cancer. The Patient Identification Program is a key […]

Birth injuries and stillbirth are a part of the often unseen and uncounted collateral damage of war. This is twenty-five-year-old Fatuma’s story Fatuma is originally from a remote rural village in Northern Ethiopia, a war affected region facing devastating damages from the recent conflict. Traditionally, survival revolves around farming the family land for a subsistence […]

Not every fistula is caused by obstructed childbirth. For Hawwa, her injury was caused by traumatic sexual intercourse. Hawwa was only 13 when her parents arranged her marriage to a much older man. Although she had been lucky enough to attend five years of school in her rural village in Northern Ethiopia, marriage ended her […]

Hamlin Fistula has been setting the international standard in fistula care in Ethiopia for 63 years. Yet Kiwi care is lagging behind.

fistula requires specialised treatment and care, most fistula injuries can be repaired with a simple two-hour operation. This life-changing surgery is one that can completely restore a woman’s life and dignity.