Some 20 health care providers selected from Mbingo and Nkwen Baptist Hospitals have been trained to provide effective care for women operated of fistula.

The participants: wound care and surgical ward nurses, physiotherapists and physiotherapy assistants and social workers were trained in a two-day workshop organised by the CBC Health Services Obstetric Fistula Project funded by the CBC Health Services. The workshop took place at the Conference Hall of the Mbingo Baptist Hospital (MBH) recently (August 19 -20, 2024).

According to the Clinical Supervisor of the Project and Lead Facilitator at the workshop, Dr. Ngock George, the objective of the workshop was to equip these health care providers with skills to deliver quality care to women who have undergone fistula surgeries. He stressed the importance of good post-operative care as an essential part of fistula treatment noting that good wound and physiotherapy care results to good treatment outcomes.

While opening the workshop, the Administrator of MBH, Mr. Fambombi Dickson expressed gratitude to Fistula Foundation, which through the SEEPD program, has empowered the hospital to alleviate the plight of women with obstetric fistula.

According to the Project Coordinator, Ayenjika Yasemeratu, the success rate of fistula treatment has improved across the years from 61% percent continence after treatment in 2022 to 84% in 2023. She noted that it has been observed that most cases of poor treatment outcomes in the past resulted from lack of proper care and follow up both at facility and community levels.

The Project Coordinator disclosed that it is for this reason that a waiting space (fistula village) for close follow up of treated women for one month was created in the hospital which led to the 23% increase in continence in 2023. She said it is expected that after the training treatment success rate will further increase to above 90%.

During the training, the participants’ knowledge was improved on wound care during which the CBC Health Services Wound Care Supervisor, Mboni Loveline guided participants on the different strategies used in repairing injuries resulting from obstetric fistula surgeries. She challenged the participants to put in their best in providing such care to prevent recurrence after many hours of a complicated surgical procedure.

For his part, one of CBC Health Services’ Senior Physiotherapists, Mr. Nkwenti Alfred taught all the participants pelvic floor muscle strengthening exercises which they are expected to use to guide treated women do after surgeries. He said these exercises are important in precipitating urine and stool continence for women treated of obstetric fistula.

After recounting the different ordeals faced by women with obstetric fistula like social exclusion, stigma, self-isolation, poverty and depression, Yisah Confidence, a Social worker encouraged the participants to provide care to these women with empathy and compassion.

Within the context of the partnership between the CBC Health Services and Fistula Foundation, Mbingo, and Nkwen Baptist Hospitals are the two Obstetric fistula treatment centers with 17 women having been successfully treated and 15 currently undergoing treatment.

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