Fistula is a truly horrid outcome of childbirth, leaving a woman bereaved of her baby, permanently incontinent and usually outcast. This almost never happens if a woman can access some help with delivery, but over half of the world's population have no access to a midwife and cannot get a caesarean section if they need one. This means that a lot of women die unnecessarily in childbirth and that there are a lot of fistula sufferers around too (1-2 million estimated by the World Health Organisation), living hidden from society.
Mhairi is currently the Chair of UCIF. It was set up in 2003, aiming to help provide treatment for fistula in Uganda and elsewhere. There are four international surgeons and two nurses working with a fantastic team of Ugandan surgeons, trainees and nurses, together treating over 200 patients per year.
SLK is a small charity in Uganda which Mhairi also chairs. It's purpose is to provide free school lunches for the girls in the town where we undertake much of our fistula work. The wider purpose is to help more girls recieve their education and to grow bigger - both of these things can protect them from early pregnancy and childbirth injury.
Fistula Foundation provides more life-transforming fistula repair surgeries than any other organisation in the world. Its mission is to end the needless suffering of women who experience obstetric fistula and other childbirth injuries. The Foundation raises funds from donors worldwide and directs those funds to local hospitals and surgical teams that provide fistula care in areas of high, unmet need. Since 2009, the Foundation has provided more than 85,000 surgeries to women in 35 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
Freedom From Fistula (FFF) helps women and girls by providing free surgeries to heal their fistulas and free maternity care to prevent fistulas and ensure safe childbirth. FFF works in three countries – Sierra Leone, Malawi and Madagascar, treating around 1000 patients per year.
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