136 330
LIFE&FAMILY
136
January14
Fistula Facts
• Obstetric fistula is a medical condition caused by prolonged or
obstructed labour
• Prolonged pressure from the baby’s head causes tissue to die, thus
opening up an abnormal passage between the vagina and the bladder
or the rectum, allowing urine or faeces to pour out through the vagina.
• Fistula was common in Western countries more than a hundred years
ago, but advances in medical care, including Caesarean sections,
have changed all that.
• An estimated two million women are affected, mainly in developing
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
How did your interest in fistula
begin?
It began when I read a beautifully written
novel called
Cutting for Stone
, by
AbrahamVerghese, about an Indian nun
who travels to Ethiopia and gives birth to
twins. In it was a description of a fistula
patient, and the condition sounded
absolutely horrendous. So I started to
research it further. Two other wonderful
books to read are
Half the Sky
, by
Nicholas Kristof; and
The Hospital by
the River
, by Dr Catherine Hamlin, who
in 1974, with her husband Reg, set up
the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.
What struck you most about it?
Most people – unless they have some
sort of medical background – have
either not heard of fistula or have no
idea of how it ruins women’s lives. It’s an
absolute disgrace how under-reported
and neglected the condition is.
Part of the problem is that girls in
these remote, undeveloped areas are
married off too young, so they give
birth in their early teens before they’re
properly developed. It has a lot to do
with poverty, with gender inequality and
with their complete lack of access to
obstetric services.
It’s a horrific scenario. Just imagine:
After anything from two days to three
weeks of agonising labour, your baby dies
inside you. After it has been stillborn or
cut out, there is a good chance that you
will either die from infection or be left with
a fistula. Without the necessary surgical
intervention, the continual seepage
of urine or faeces means that you’re
constantly ill; and because you smell so
bad, your husband doesn’t want you near
him. In most cases, you’d be thrown out
of your village to live alone and in misery.
Liberty Rocks is about
fundraising through the design
and sale of jewellery. Why did
you take that route?
When I got in touch with the Worldwide
Fistula Fund (WFF), I realised that I could
either make a straightforward money
donation, or choose a more sustainable
and ongoing way of contributing.
Also, I thought it would be good if I
could do something creative, as I was
missing that aspect of the interiors
retail business, Double Luck, which I
ran for many years and closed down in
2010. What’s more, I love jewellery, and
particularly this kind of “tribal chic” look
that’s achieved by combining different
stones, colours and textures.
The piece around your neck is
exquisite. Where is it from?
In fact, this necklace is what got me
started! The pendant is an ancient piece
of glass, more than two millennia old,
and was part of a Roman hoard that