What is fistula? Obstetric fistula is a devastating birth injury, caused by a tear or hole in the delicate tissue between a woman’s birth canal and bladder or rectum following a long obstructed labour.
Not only do women face a future of incontinence, but they can be subject to severe social stigma. Many women battle serious mental health issues and many marriages do not survive.
But we can make a difference. Our maternal health partners are working to find and treat women who are living with fistulas and to improve access to maternal healthcare across Ethiopia.
Azmera was only 14 when she was married off by her family. At 17 she learned she was pregnant.
With no doctor of midwife by her side, Azmera lost her baby after enduring days of pain and a traumatic birth, only to be left with an obstetric fistula. In Ethiopia, this story is all too common.
But thanks to your support and the life changing surgery offered by Dr Ambaye and her team at Hope of Light, there is hope for girls like Azmera.
By improving access to maternal health services, our partners are saving the lives of mothers and babies, preventing the childbirth injuries that are so prevalent with prolonged unassisted labour and offering women
choices in childbirth.
By donating today:
You can contribute to a life-transforming obstetric fistula surgery.
You can support Safe Motherhood Ambassadors, who find women living with obstetric fistula and help them access treatment and support, and raise awareness to prevent fistula.
You can help train midwives, so that women in rural areas can access vital maternal health services.
We firmly believe that every woman should be able to access
the care they need to give birth safely.
Thank you.
We raise funds for local Ethiopian charities to transform lives and achieve lasting change.
Our partners know the context and solutions; we listen and provide appropriate support. Growth and development are tracked in local communities using robust monitoring and evaluation. Partnerships continue as long as there’s a clear need and opportunities to make a lasting impact.
Our vision – an Ethiopia in which every person has access to quality education, healthcare and a life of dignity.
Our mission – breaking the cycle of poverty by enabling the poorest and most vulnerable and their communities to live with dignity, to build resilience and achieve real and sustainable solutions to the challenges they face.
