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Obstetric Fistula

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As intern doctors we are often told that a diagnosis of obstetric fistula can be made on first contact with the patient, based on the smell due to incontinence. This rather callous method of diagnosis is an indication of the effects of obstetric fistula; women are ostracized and ill-treated.
Few specialized doctors were competent in management of Obstetric fistula at the University Teaching Hospital at the time and the client waiting was long, filled with women that travel far to get treatment at great cost.
Flash forward a few years and I was posted as senior doctor to one of the far places these fistula patients came from. Our fistula patients presented months after delivery, the diagnosis often missed with some not presenting at all. Fortunately,

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