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Obstetric fistula is one of the most dangerous and most misunderstood birth injuries.

Obstetric fistula occurs when a woman experiences prolonged labor — often for several days — and is unable to access emergency delivery care. The baby cuts off blood flow to tissues in the mother’s pelvis. After the baby has been delivered, the dead tissue falls away, leaving a hole in the birth canal that can leak urine or feces.

Every year, 50,000 to 100,000 women develop this devastating childbirth injury. Tragically, even after a difficult delivery, very few fistula survivors are able to bring their baby home, with over 90% of survivors delivering a stillborn.

As devastating as obstetric fistulas are, they can be easily prevented with proper maternal health care — which UNFPA is working to deliver around the world, to every woman who needs it.

Today, on the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, will you make a gift to deliver lifesaving care to pregnant women and help ensure that every childbirth is safe? [[link removed]]

DELIVER LIFESAVING CARE [[link removed]]

Ager , a very young mother in Ethiopia, spent 24 hours giving birth at home before her family took her to a clinic for care. She received emergency care, but it was still too late. Ager lost her sixth baby, had to have a hysterectomy, and developed an obstetric fistula. From those dark moments, she recalled: “I wished I died as my babies. I was in so much distress and shame.”

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“I never enjoyed being a woman since I had this condition. It was tough to live,” said Margret , a woman in Malawi who lived with a fistula for 13 years before finding help. Like many women who experience fistula, she faced chronic health conditions. When fistula occurs, recurring infections, depression, and anxiety are all too common.

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Razia from Pakistan, who was forced into marriage as a child, gave birth alone, except for a traditional birth attendant who was ill-equipped to care for her complications. She was in labor for four days, before finally giving birth to a stillborn daughter. Razia developed multiple fistulas, which she lived with for years, saying, “People would either avoid me or just make fun of me. I never felt clean.”

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The toll of obstetric fistula is devastating. In addition to severe health complications, survivors are often shunned by their communities and abandoned by their partners, unable to work or go to school, and driven deeper into social exclusion and poverty.

Ager, Margret, and Razia were all able to get their lives back thanks to UNFPA-supported clinics where they received fistula repair surgeries.

“ I did not believe I would be cured, but thanks to God, I feel like I have been reborn. I have no words to thank the doctors, nurses, and everyone who supports this godly work. Now, I am eager to mix with my family as a woman with full dignity,” Ager told us.

Your generous gifts have the power to change lives. Will you make a donation to help eliminate obstetric fistula and ensure mothers can deliver their babies safely around the world? [[link removed]]

DELIVER LIFESAVING CARE [[link removed]]

Thank you for helping us end obstetric fistula, once and for all.

— USA for UNFPA
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