The Nova documentary, A Walk to Beautiful, follows three Ethiopian women on their journey to find a cure for injuries they sustained during childbirth that hav
e left them incontinent and shunned by their husbands and the communities in which they live. Why is obstetric fistula known as the silent epidemic and why does it disproportionately effect women in the developing world? Why do some of the women in this film say that death would be preferable to living with fistula? If you were tasked with doing something to help prevent this problem in countries like Ethiopia, what would you do–where would you begin and why?
4 thoughts on “A Walk to Beautiful: Addressing Obstetric Fistula”
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It is known as the silent epidemic because it is something that is not publicized. However, it affects many women especially in the developing world. It disproportionately effects women there as many women become pregnant at a young age and have not developed fully. Their hips are small and it is not possible to give birth. This affects the fistula and they are damaged and no longer able to give birth. They would prefer death as they are isolated and shunned by their families and serve no purpose. To prevent these problems I would start with education. Men and women should be educated on the risks of giving birth at an early age and how it is important for women to be healthy. I would also discourage young pregnancy. It is hard to tell a culture what to do especially when it has always been normal for an older man to marry a younger women. However, he should understand that the chance of him having a child with his wife is more at risk if he impregnates her at a young age when her body has not fully matured yet.
But do you think just educating a man about what pregnancy will do to a younger women will make any difference if there is not birth control and if the man can just cast her aside and get another wife? Seems to me like there has to be a law and punishments for child marriage coupled with education, including open sex education and the provision of contraceptives to really solve the problem.
I agree. I agree that provision of contraceptives are very important. However, it is hard to tell a culture that has always had child marriage that they are not longer allowed to practice that custom. I would maybe say that there needs to be punishments to men who have sex with women who are too young. Instead of banning child marriage, maybe passing a law that stops sex before the age of 16 for example. It is definitely hard challenging a culture that is different to ours, similar to the genital mutilation argument.
Obstetric fistula is known as the silent epidemic because no one talks about it. One could even say that many don’t care about it, because it is a problem for poor women. It disproportionately affects women in the developing world because of the young marrying age of girls. Ethiopian girls are married and impregnated very young, and their bodies are not mature enough to carry and birth children, so during birth the birth canal tissues are forced against the pelvic walls and are forced out, resulting in lost of some of the rectum or bladder. While young girls also get pregnant in the US, Ethiopian girls are more likely to develop fistula because they are poorer. Even poor people in America has some inkling of access to healthcare, while young girls in Ethiopia do not, so they have higher chances of developing conditions and diseases related to pregnancy. Some of the women in the film say death would be preferable to living with fistula because they are shunned by the families and communities. They live in isolation, with the burden of losing a child during childbirth. They feel useless because no one wants to associate with them ( mom made her live out back behind her house because she didn’t want any association with her) and they cannot contribute to the group. No one wants to live a life of isolation because of a physical condition they didn’t ask to have., one they never had control over.
If I were tasked with doing something to prevent this problem in Ethiopia and similar countries, I would start with education. Education is important. First, these people need to understand what fistula is and why it happens so often in their country among women . They need to understand that because girls are getting pregnant so young, while they are still very small, that the labor process is difficult because the pelvis isn’t fully grown. Men and women need to be educated on why child marriage can ruin a young girl’s life. Men need to understand that the probability of having multiple children is lessened when they marry young girls with underdeveloped bodies. I think that incorporating more medical facilities closer to the homes of the girls can help as well because many of them have to travel to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia’s capital) to receive medical attention. If there were medical facilities built closer to the homes of girls they can receive more immediate help.
If you were tasked with doing something to help prevent this problem in countries like Ethiopia, what would you do–where would you begin and why?