A Walk to Beautiful

So this week I really wanted to write about something besides ME. My blog is entitled "A Little of This & A Little of That"....And I'm thinking you are getting more THIS, than THAT these days. So, while pondering what I wanted to write about, I thought about the last week and something that touched me. 

About 2 months ago I came across a Movie/Documentary on Netflix called "A Walk to Beautiful"....the description said: "In Ethiopia, a country with few hospitals and even fewer roads that lead to them, three women are on a journey to rebuild their lives after suffering devastating losses in childbirth." I thought it was interesting, so I added it to my instant queue to remind myself to watch it. I finally did this last week.

If you would like to watch the movie, prior to reading the rest of this entry, you can do so on netflix.com, and I know that PBS has been showing it as well. (Interesting side note, I started watching this on netflix, and had to stop 1/2 way through when Beth woke up from her nap and demanded my attention. The next day I came home and Andrew was watching it on PBS. He was further into the movie, so he turned it off so it wouldn't confuse me. We ended up turning the TV on the next day, and it was just starting on PBS again, so we watched it together).

In this amazing documentary it follows a few women in Ethiopia who have lost their babies during child birth. One of the most devastating occurrences in this country is when a woman labors for days, sometimes even 10 days. And due to her inability to birth the baby, the baby dies in her womb. The reason for the long labors and inability to birth is two fold. First, in this and many other countries women are expected to do large amounts of manual labor. Starting at the age of 2, they carry water and gather food. And as they age, their loads grow in size and weight. This causes young women to not grow to the proper size, sometimes still falling inches short of 5 feet tall at 18-21 years old. And it stunts the growth and width of their bones, specifically their pelvis. So, when they go into labor a baby often times cannot make it past their pelvis. The second reason is that when babies are in an unfavorable position for birth (breech, transverse, ect) there is little to no medical intervention in these countries, especially in remote areas. So, women labor for days until they are able to go to a hospital or a doctor is able to come to them. By that time, most babies and even some women have not survived the labor. 

This was heart breaking for me to hear. I can not imagine the pain that these women go through. After losing a baby, women in these countries are often ostracized. Because they have not fulfilled their role as a wife or mother. They have failed to bring a healthy baby into the world, and will no longer be seen as a member of the family or group in which they live. 

It seems as though there could be nothing worse in life. Unfortunately for these women, there is. Most women who suffer through a long labor and survive will find that not only have they lost their babies, their families, and respect. But they have lost something else. The ability to control their bladder and sometimes even their bowels. Due to the long labor and constant pressure of contractions, blood flow is restricted to tissues in the bladder and rectal area. After this trauma, the tissue will die, and a hole is left. It is called an Obstetric Fistula. It is defined as: "A hole that forms between the vagina and the bladder or rectum during prolonged, obstructed labor. This horrific injury leaves victims incontinent. Some develop nerve damage in the feet and legs."

They are shunned even more because of this condition. People make fun of them because they smell of urine. These women often live with the condition for years. Sometimes waiting over a decade, or never getting it fixed. One of the women said she was waiting for death. Until her friend told her about a Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa. Women will travel for days to get to this hospital to get treatment. The co-founder of this hospital, Dr.Catherine Hamlin, an OB/GYN, came to Ethiopia over 50 years ago with her husband Dr. Reginald  Hamlin. They decided to open the Fistula Hospital in 1974 after seeing women with this issue turned away from regular hospitals due mostly to their hygiene and lack of income. This hospital does AMAZING work for these women. 

My favorite woman in the movie is Wubete. She is a 17 year old who was raised by her father. At the age of 10 she was forced to get married. She ran away from her husband after a few days. When she returned to her home her father beat her. This happened a total of three times, until after marrying husband #4, she found out she was pregnant. She stayed with her husband until she lost her baby and developed a fistula. He sent her away as "damaged goods". She felt she could not return to her village, so she went to the hospital. She had her fistula repaired after 2 treatments, but still returned to the hospital due to incontinence. The doctors determined that this was due to her entire bladder being damaged during labor. After tests they found a temporary solution until she was able to regain her bladder control through practice.

After this solution was found she explained to the staff that she could NOT go back to her village. There was no place for her. She eventually found an orphanage where she could work and call home. The beautiful part of this story was that she was given the responsibility of 4 beautiful children to call her own. They were told that Wubete was their new mother. And she was finally able to start to live the life she had envisioned. Being a mother. 

Now, why is this all important to you and I? I know there are devastating events that occur through out the world every day. But this one touches me the most. It is so wonderful what the Fistula Hospital is doing in Ethiopia. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of this issue:

• For every woman who dies from pregnancy-related complications, 20 women survive but experience terrible injuries and disabilities.

• In Ethiopia, there are 59 OB/GYNs and 1,000 midwives for a population of 77 million.

• One woman dies from pregnancy-related complications every minute worldwide; 95% of them live in Africa and Asia.

• More than 99% of The Fistula Hospital patients are illiterate. (The hospital teaches all patients the Amharic Fideles and the Oromiyffa alphabets.)

• Number of patients treated at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital every year: 1,200

• Number of obstetric fistula cases occurring in Ethiopia alone each year: 9,000

• Number of new obstetric fistula cases resulting from childbirth occurring worldwide each year: 100,000

• Number of new obstetric fistula cases resulting from childbirth occurring in the U.S. each year: 0

• The year the last U.S. hospital treating fistula patients closed its doors: 1895.

This doesn't just occur in Africa, it also occurs in countries like India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nepal. The documentary website states that: "It is estimated that there are 100,000 new cases each year, but the international capacity to treat obstetric fistula is limited to only 6,500 per year."

I am SO grateful that I live in a country where medical interventions are available. I am so grateful that my family and friends will love me no matter what happens. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who looks after women everywhere, and will bless them. I hope that more women can find out about this wonderful treatment and that the international capacity to treat will be greater because of this wonderful documentary. If you want to know more about the documentary please visit http://www.walktobeautiful.com/.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Happy Blogging.