Main description:

This book applies a multi-disciplinary lens to examine obstetric fistula, a childbirth injury that results from prolonged, obstructed labor. While obstetric fistula can be prevented with emergency obstetric care, it continues to occur primarily in resource-limited settings. In this volume, specialists in the anthropological, psychological, public health, and biomedical disciplines, as well as health policy experts and representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations discuss a scoping overview on obstetric fistula, including prevention, treatment, and reducing stigma for survivors. This comprehensive resource is useful in understanding the risk factors, epidemiology, and social, psychological, and medical effects of obstetric fistula.
Topics explored include:

A Human Rights Approach Toward Eradicating Obstetric Fistula
Obstetric Fistula: A Case of Miscommunication - Social Experiences of Women with Obstetric Fistula
Classification of Female Genital Tract Fistulas
Training and Capacity-Building in the Provision of Fistula Treatment Services
Designing Preventive Strategies for Obstetric Fistula
Sexual Function in Women with Obstetric Fistula
Social and Reproductive Health of Women After Obstetric Fistula Repair
Making the Case for Holistic Fistula Care
Addressing Mental Health in Obstetric Fistula Patients
Physical Therapy for Women with Obstetric Fistula

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Obstetric Fistula in Africa is designed for professional use by NGOs, international aid organizations, governmental and multilateral agencies, healthcare providers, public health specialists, anthropologists, and others who aim to improve maternal health across the globe. Although the book's geographic focus is Africa, it may serve as a useful resource for individuals who aim to address obstetric fistula in other settings. The book may also be used as an educational tool in courses/programs that focus on Global Health, Maternal and Child Health, Epidemiology, Medical Anthropology, Gender/Women's Studies, Obstetrics, Global Medicine, Nursing, and Midwifery.

Contents:

Foreword

Hon. Edna Adan Ismail

Acknowledgements

Part I. Obstetric Fistula

Chapter 1. Introduction to Obstetric Fistula: A Multidisciplinary Approach to a Preventable Childbirth Tragedy

Bonnie Ruder, Laura Briggs Drew, and David A. Schwartz

Chapter 2. A Human Rights Approach Toward Eradicating Obstetric Fistula: Expanding Data Collection, Prevention, Treatment, and Continuing Support for Women and Girls Who Have Been Neglected

Laura Briggs Drew

Chapter 3. Archaeological Basis for Obstetrical Fistula: A Condition that Is as Ancient as Human Themselves

David A. Schwartz

Chapter 4. Obstetric Fistula in Context

L. Lewis Wall

Chapter 5. Co-occurrence of Obstetric Fistula and Stillbirth in Sub-Saharan Africa

Karen D. Cowgill

Chapter 6. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Obstetric Fistula in Africa: Public Health, Sociological and Medical Perspectives

Tina Lavender, Sabina Wakasiaka and Weston Khisa

Chapter 7. Women Who Lose Their Lives While Giving Life: Exploring Obstetric Fistula as a Public Health Problem in Kenya

Kathomi Gatwiri

Part II: Perspectives and Experiences from Women and Girls with Obstetric Fistula

Chapter 8. Obstetric Fistula: A Case of Miscommunication - Social Experiences of Women with Obstetric Fistula

Marielle E. Meurice, Saifuddin Ahmed, and Rene Genadry

Chapter 9. The Experience of Childbirth and Obstetric Fistula: Perspectives of Women in Northern Ghana

F. Beryl Pilkington, Prudence Mwini-Nyaledzigbor, and Alice Abokai Agana

Chapter 10. The Experiences of Women Living with Obstetric Fistula in Burkina Faso: From Delivery to Social Reinsertion

Marie-Eve Pare, Julie Desalliers, Laurence Bernard, Salam Kouraogo, and Jacques Corcos

Chapter 11. Girls' and Women's Social Experiences with Obstetric Fistula in Tanzania: A Public Health Problem

Stella Masala Mpanda and Lilian Teddy Mselle

Chapter 12. Physical, Psychological and Social Assessments of Fistula Recovery Among Women in Nigeria and Uganda

Beth S. Phillips, Justus K. Barageine, Dorothy N. Ononokpono, and Alison M. El Ayadi

Chapter 13. Socioeconomic and Healthcare Causes of Obstetric Fistula in Tanzania: Perspectives from the Affected Women

Lilian Teddy Mselle and Stella Masala Mpanda

Chapter 14. Health-Seeking Behavior Among Women with Obstetric Fistula in Ethiopia

Jordann Loehr, Heather Lytle, and Mulat Adefris

Part III. Fistula Treatment, Management, and Models of Care

Chapter 15. Classification of Female Genital Tract Fistulas

Judith T. Goh and Hannah G. Krause

Chapter 16. Surgical Treatment for Obstetric Fistula: Not an Easy Option

Andrew Browning

Chapter 17. Obstetric Vesicovaginal Fistula: Development of a Predictive Score of Failed Surgical Repair

Joseph B. Nsambi, Olivier Mukuku, Propser L. Kakudji, Jean-Baptiste S.Z. Kakoma

Chapter 18. Training and Capacity-Building in the Provision of Fistula Treatment Services: The FIGO Fistula Surgery Training Initiative

Gillian Slinger and Lilli Trautvetter

Chapter 19. Medical and Surgical Challenges and Opportunities for Treatment at the Aberdeen Women's Centre in Sierra Leone

Ennet Banda Chipungu

Chapter 20. Comparing Three Models of Fistula Care Among Five Facilities in Nigeria and Uganda

Pooja Sripad, Caroline Johnson, Vandana Tripathi, and Charlotte E. Warren

Chapter 21. Obstetric Fistula in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Neglected Care of Young Women in Rural Areas

Joseph B. Nsambi, Olivier Mukuku and Jean-Baptiste S.Z. Kakoma

Chapter 22. Therapeutic Management of Obstetric Fistula: Learning from Implementation of Insertable Devices to Improve the Health and Well-Being of Women and Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Nessa Ryan and Ann E. Kurth

Chapter 23. The Aberdeen Women's Centre: Providing Care for Girls and Women with Fistula and Other Conditions in Sierra Leone

Ivy Kalama

Part IV: Beyond Surgery-Preventing Obstetric Fistula and Addressing Its Many Consequences

Chapter 24. Height and External Measurement of Pelvic Diameters to Predict Obstetric Fistula in Congolese Women: A Case-control Study

Joseph B. Nsambi, Olivier Mukuku, Xavier K. Kinenkinda, Propser L. Kakudji, Robert Andrianne, Jean-Baptiste S.Z. Kakoma

Chapter 25. Designing Preventive Strategies for Obstetric Fistula: Evidence from a Survey Conducted Among Rural and Urban Women in Burkina Faso

Aduragbemi Banke-Thomas

Chapter 26. Sexual Function in Women with Obstetric Fistula

Rachel Pope

Chapter 27. Social and Reproductive Health of Women After Obstetric Fistula Repair: Insights from Guinea

Alexandre Delamou

Chapter 28. Urinary Incontinence Following Obstetric Fistula Surgery

Hannah G. Krause and Judith T. Goh

Chapter 29. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Obstetric Fistula in Northern Ghana: "Not Counted Among Women"

Kimberly Jarvis, Helen Vallianatos, Solina Richter, and Priscilla N. Boakye

Chapter 30. Making the Case for Holistic Fistula Care: Implementation of a Model Reintegration Program in Uganda

Bonnie Ruder and Alice Emasu

Chapter 31. Addressing Mental Health in Obstetric Fistula Patients: Filling the Void

Meghan Beddow and Mary J. Stokes

Chapter 32. Physical Therapy for Women with Obstetric Fistula

Theresa Spitznagle

Chapter 33. Comprehensive Pelvic Floor Health: Beyond the "Hole" in the Wall

Rahel Nardos and Laura Jacobson