Characteristics of Women Receiving Treatment for Obstetric Fistula in Tanzania
Overview
For my summer research, I plan to investigate the social and economic characteristics of women receiving treatment for obstetric fistula in Tanzania. I will collect qualitative and quantitative data on the women’s demographic backgrounds, family and community structures, social and economic support systems, local transportation options, personal and family income, assets and access to material and financial resources. My end goal is to identify social and economic factors common to women who have gotten fistula and have accessed treatment services. These findings should be useful to the government and health policy stakeholders in Tanzania, in getting a clear picture of the population that they are serving through their fistula treatment program, and to similar countries that are mounting new treatment programs and need to know common characteristics of the likely care-seeking population.
Background
Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury that occurs as a result of prolonged and obstructed labor without medical treatment. Specifically, when a woman goes into labor and her baby’s head cannot pass through the birth canal, medical care is needed; for example, a cesarean section may be required to deliver the baby. When prompt medical treatment is unavailable, the pressure of the baby’s head causes tissue to disintegrate between the woman’s vagina and her bladder and/or rectum. As a result, the woman is left leaking urine and/or feces uncontrollably from her vagina. The baby almost always dies, and the woman often suffers social rejection and isolation as a result of her condition.
In many cases fistulas can be repaired surgically, but services tend to be scarce in countries that are already burdened with poor health care infrastructure and a very limited number of obstetrician-gynecologists. Special training is required for physicians to learn fistula repair, and women who get fistula rarely have the money available to pay for health services—making the repair a costly venture for doctors and health care facilities alike. Accordingly, the demand for treatment far exceeds the supply of trained surgeons. Ten Tanzania hospitals currently offer fistula repair on a regular basis to any women who can get themselves to the hospital, often at fully or partially subsidized rates. Many women spend years saving up enough money just to cover their transportation costs.
