The documentary A Walk to Beautiful was a heart-wrenching account of women with obstetric fistulas and their journey from social outcasts to healed patients. Women in undeveloped nations have a higher incidence of obstetric fistula because of the lack of obstetric care in the rural areas; women in the U.S. do not suffer from this condition due to the availability of medical care during childbirth. During prolonged childbirth, in some cases as long as ten days, the head of the baby, while engaged, obstructs the blood flow to different areas in the pelvis; once the blood flow is decreased then certain pieces of tissue die causing a fistula. These fistulas can either be a communication between the urethra and vagina, between the rectum and the vagina or both (Smith, & Engel, 2008). The women that have this affliction are shunned from society; their husbands usually leave them and they are given huts outside of the family home to live. The only hope for these women is the Fistula Clinic in Adis Ababa, which many women have to travel for days, by foot and bus, to get to because they live in rural parts of Ethiopia. Through education of their patients, the group hopes to stop fistulas in the future.
Smith, M.O., & Engel, S. (Producer). (2008). A walk to beautiful. [Web].
Retrieved from http://video.pbs.org/video/980049841/
Tara,
ReplyDeleteI can not imagine being shunned by my family because of a health issue, especially one due to a complication of bearing a child. I can only imagine what pain these women must endure!
Melissa
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI did research on this problem for one of my school assignments. I think sometimes we forget about how much we have available to us in the United States. The most frustrating part of this health issue is that it is totally preventable with good prenatal/medical health care. These woman carry a child and is then shunned because something went wrong during delivery. I just can't imagine the pain and heartbreak these woman go through.
Angie
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteWhat I also find so sad is that even if these women had the ability or the source of getting proper care, alot their culture beliefs would hender them from seeking this care. They would be seen as "less than a woman" or weak for not wanting have a child naturally. This treatment is displayed by all of the community even by their own family members. What the women really wanted didn't have any weight in the matter, because in most developing countries women are the property of the men. If he men said no to prenatal or medical treatment they would have to settle with what they saw as the "norm".
Yes, it is so very sad. We are truly blessed to have access to these "basic" neccessities, because I see medical care truly as a neccessity.
Carla