Healing Childbirth Injuries in Ethiopia
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Obstetric fistula was once a common childbirth injury, but it’s now relegated to the poorest regions of the world. In Ethiopia, women who suffer from fistulas are treated like social pariahs and forced to live alone – unless they can manage to get to the Fistula Foundation in Addis Ababa, a hospital that exists solely to treat them. Mary Olive Smith has co-produced and co-directed a new film, "A Walk to Beautiful", about these women; it airs Tues., May 13, on PBS at 8 pm.
Guests:
Mary Olive Smith
About The Leonard Lopate Show
Host Leonard Lopate lets you in on the best conversations with writers, actors, ex-presidents, dancers, scientists, comedians, historians, grammarians, curators, filmmakers, and do-it-yourself experts.
Hosted by Leonard Lopate
Sign up for the Book Club e-newsletter.
Features
- 2010 Tony Award Winners
- 25 Years of Lopate
- AIDS: Then & Now
- Backstory
- Guest Hosts
- Guest Picks
- How Did Politics in America Get So Weird?
- Please Explain
- Summer Stuff
- The Big Picture
- The Gurus of How-To
- The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club
- The Lodown
- The Word Maven: Patricia T. O'Conner
- Tributes
- Underappreciated
- Underreported
- Web Extras
Show Archive
Show Archive
Comments [4]
This problem has not been eradicated in the U.S. I had a comparatively mild (though hugely inconvenient) problem after a very long and difficult labor at 38.
I had doctors tell me I would just have to live with it and others who wouldn't even consider taking me as a patient.
I eventually found a stellar medical team take on my case and after two hours on the operating table and a difficult recovery I'm glad I persevered in finding the right team to treat me.
Afterwords I had friends ask if they could put other friends with similar problems in contact with me. I began to feel like a spokesperson for the problem.
So, I wonder how many women in the U.S. have had a similar experience with this eradicated problem.
Amazing. THANK YOU SO MUCH LEONARD.
During the last part of this segment, you mentioned the large percentage of women in power in Rwanda.
About that, your guest said, "Great things can happen."
While it is indeed good to see women in power in a country, it should also be pointed out that the reason for this large percentage of women in power in Rwanda is because the majority of men were killed in the genocide of the 1990s.
That's not such a "great thing."
Great segment. Only thing is that Ms. Smith said the only its the only fistula hospital in the world, and in fact there is one in Democratic Republic of Congo, called the Panzi Hospital founded by Dr. Mukwage. Although, the surgery is for rape victims and not for childbirth.
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.