TY - JOUR
T1 - The lived experience of Malawian women with obstetric fistula
AU - Yeakey, Marissa Pine
AU - Chipeta, Effie
AU - Taulo, Frank
AU - Tsui, Amy O.
N1 - Funding Information:
We gratefully thank the women and families that participated in this research for being so generous with their time. We would also like to acknowledge Agnes Chimbiri and Mary Sibande who worked extremely hard to make this research possible. This research was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Data on women who experience obstetric fistula paints an often tragic picture. The majority of previous research has focused on facility-based data from women receiving surgical treatment. The goal of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of the lived experience of obstetric fistula in Malawi. Forty-five women living with fistula were interviewed in their homes to learn how the condition affected them and their families on a daily basis. Findings indicate that the experiences of Malawian women with fistula were more varied than anticipated. Concerning relationships with husbands and family, we found high rates of divorce and stigma, yet these outcomes were far from universal or inevitable. Many women, in addition to their families, discussed high levels of support from those individuals closest to them. Nonetheless, many women experienced the fistula as a direct assault on their ability to fulfil social expectations of them as women, wives and mothers. Women identified fertility and continued childbearing as central concerns. The data suggest that we cannot discount the experiences of women living with fistula from continued participation in marriage, community and childbearing. Programmes for outreach and services should consider a broadened range of outcomes of women living with fistula.
AB - Data on women who experience obstetric fistula paints an often tragic picture. The majority of previous research has focused on facility-based data from women receiving surgical treatment. The goal of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of the lived experience of obstetric fistula in Malawi. Forty-five women living with fistula were interviewed in their homes to learn how the condition affected them and their families on a daily basis. Findings indicate that the experiences of Malawian women with fistula were more varied than anticipated. Concerning relationships with husbands and family, we found high rates of divorce and stigma, yet these outcomes were far from universal or inevitable. Many women, in addition to their families, discussed high levels of support from those individuals closest to them. Nonetheless, many women experienced the fistula as a direct assault on their ability to fulfil social expectations of them as women, wives and mothers. Women identified fertility and continued childbearing as central concerns. The data suggest that we cannot discount the experiences of women living with fistula from continued participation in marriage, community and childbearing. Programmes for outreach and services should consider a broadened range of outcomes of women living with fistula.
KW - Malawi
KW - Maternal morbidity
KW - Obstetric fistula
KW - Quality of life
KW - Women's experiences
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U2 - 10.1080/13691050902874777
DO - 10.1080/13691050902874777
M3 - Article
C2 - 19444686
AN - SCOPUS:68049139702
SN - 1369-1058
VL - 11
SP - 499
EP - 513
JO - Culture, Health and Sexuality
JF - Culture, Health and Sexuality
IS - 5
ER -