Obstetric Fistula: Epie say e fit smile afta fistula operation weh e make e shame wit smell
Shame, stigma and smell because of Obstetric fistula make me ah no fit go waka, no fit feel free but ah get big smile now afta deh operate me.
Woman dem for ward afta operation Melissa Epie tori BBC Pidgin how e live wit fistula for six years. Obstetric fistula as sabi pipo tok na some kana hole for bladder or rectum weh di appear wen woman labour for long sotei pikin e head press de place sotei make hole. Wen e happen pipi and popoo di komot wit no control for woman e private part. De main cause for fistula na for born pikin for house or for place weh deh no correct hospital and maid wives no dey. Epie tori how e fistula start Ah bi teacher from Kumba, Southwest Cameroon and ah bin get fistula wen a wan born pikin for 2013. Deh bin use machine for drag pikin from ma belle, na so ah develop fistula. Ah no bi get any idea, later wen ah use pad ah see say popo komot from wusai ah di pii. Epie suffer wit Obstetric Fistula for six years before operation Ma mami say e no normal wen ah complain for yo. Na so we meet doctor and deh tell me say na fistula. Deh take me for theatre try for repair, e no work afta one week, ah go house kam back afta one moon, four moons e still no work. So ah decide say an no create de sickness so ah go manage ma-self stay wit'am. Fistula bi laik stigma, you no fit work freely, you no fit go occasion feel free, go visit stay, if you get laik running stomach, before you reach toilet, e don drop laik for seven places. E di make pesin feel so unconformable. Ah feel relief and happy ah di feel different as all tin di komot for normal track now. Ah fit smile now even wit operation pain. Before ma smile no di show, but na big smile now. Prof. Pierre Marie Tebeu na doctor weh e di operate Obsteric Fistula Cameroon get l000 new cases every year Epie no bi de only woman weh e don struggle wit fistula, Ambane Brigitte, 50 years, live wit e own fistula for 16 years. Dis year, OCEAC Centre for the fight against endemic and pandemic diseases and de inter-state Higher training public health centre in Central Africa, General foundation for medical education and research Switzerland join Cameroon Teaching Hospital (CHU)for contribute for operate de woman dem. According to OCEAC director prof. Pierre Marie Tebeu, Cameroon get laik 500 to 1000 new cases every year, so e fit bi about 9000 to 13,000 woman dem weh deh get Obstetric fistula for Cameroon. Last year Mercy Ships bin operate about 200 woman dem wit obstetric fistulas. As coordinator for Gyaeneco Obstetric unit for CHU, Eyenga Nkoa Genevieve say from tests to operation and afta, e go fit cost about FCFA 500,000 for repair fistula for one woman. Student doctors, nurses di learn from Prof Pierre Marie Tebeu According to Tebeu, plenti kana surgery dey, some case we pass through vagina, get tissue go close de hole, some we open de stomach. For yi, prevention na for support woman for deliver for hospital and wit help for midwife or traditional birth attendant. "We plan na for finish wit fistula but na all sectors get for join hand for fight as obstetric fistula weh e get five pillars", Tebeu tok. Message for woman dem na say deh fit avoid obstetric fistulas, go deliver for hospital, fistula no be witchcraft and CHU na referral centre for manage fistula, Tebeu conclude.