Too many women are being left in obstructed labour for too long, resulting in maternal and/or newborn death. Those who survive are left, all too often, with vesico-vaginal fistula. Today 23 May is the International Day to End Fistula. It is a day to promote healthcare information to raise awareness among women, families and birth attendants about the dangers of prolonged labour, and the need to prepare for urgent referral if necessary. It is a day to raise global awareness of the importance of access to emergency obstetric care, including and especially caesarian section, for all women. Prevention is better than cure, but every woman with fistula should have access to corrective surgery. In the spirit of the world-famous fistula hospital in Ethiopia, excessive regulation and medical turf protection should, where appropriate, be replaced progressively by training of non-medical staff to conduct caesarians and/or fistula surgery. As we have heard previously on HIFA, ‘Many professionals are paranoid and far too defensive of their niches, and its pure arrogance to assume less educated workers are incapable of being trained in well demarcated tasks previously undertaken by tertiary trained professionals.’ http://www.hifavoices.org/quotation/role-non-physician-surgeons-23-lets-give-task-shifting-chance-11-0

I would like to invite comments from HIFA members on what is being done (or should be done) to provide the care women need to prevent and manage this debilitating and stigmatising complication of childbirth.

Best wishes,

Neil

Let’s build a future where people are no longer dying for lack of healthcare knowledge – Join HIFA: www.hifa2015.org