NaBloPoMo - With A Cause

Chances are I will be posting more than once each day. Hanging out with my blog so much lately has had me wanting to write more and more. However, just as I previously mentioned, I am planning on posting on a certain topic everyday. One with a little more meaning than the "This Is My Life" theme I normally have.

I am currently enrolled in a course titled, "Issues and Policies in American Government." I know, the name alone give you chills from excitement - yes? The class focuses on social movements in the US versus those abroad. While wrapping up our focus on the modern women's movement in the US, the professor took a moment to focus of the women's issues in developing countries, because our comparison in class is only with the Chilean Women's movement. I've known about female genital mutilation, and oppression in some Islamic states, but her list kept going and going.

I realized right then what I wanted to focus on.

So, forgive me, dear readers, if you cannot hack the factual and emotional pleas I will be making for the next month. I promise to sprinkle it with personal anecdotes, and to keep it fairly short. With lots of links. Pictures, too (remember that I like to make my links to important things photos).

So to begin, this week is women's health week. I am sure some topics will over-lap, and may get kind of muddy. I am doing my best to organize, and that's still not great.

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Ever heard of Obstetric fistula?

I hadn't. It's horrible - and entirely preventable and treatable when not prevented.

Fistula is a childbirth related injury. It occurs when a labor is obstructed and goes on for 3-7 days, even though the fetus normally dies after two or three days of labor. While the fetus is in the birth canal it's head puts pressure on the soft tissues around it against the pelvic bone or the rectum. This extended pressure prevents blood from getting to the tissue, causing it to die and leaving a hole between the vagina and bladder, or rectum, or both.

The result is incontinence. Because of the woman's inability to control her urine or feces she is often shunned by her family, unable to get a job, and left to rely on charity. There can be medical consequences, too. Women with Fistula can suffer from chronic ulcerations and infections. Some women drink as little as possible to prevent embarrassment and only succeed in dehydrating themselves. Others suffer nerve damage and are unable to walk. In most cases the child is still-born.

Fistula can be prevented by an emergency cesarean section, and occurs most often in area where emergency services are unavailable. The surgery to repair it and post-op care costs about $300, and has a 90% success rate in uncomplicated cases. Many women who suffer from fistula cannot afford the $300, or do not know a solution exists.

Please visit www.endfistula.org, RENEW: The Campaign to End Fistula, to find out more, see pictures of the women affect and helped by the campaign, and to learn what you can do to help.

If you, or someone you know, has an idea about how to bring attention to Fistula, please let me know in the comments section.