This article presents data from 1354 women from five countries who participated in a prospective cohort study conducted between 2007 and 2010. Women undergoing surgery for fistula repair were interviewed at the time of admission, discharge, and at a 3-month follow-up visit. While women's experiences differed across countries, a similar picture emerges across countries: women married young, most were married at the time of admission, had little education, and for many, the fistula occurred after the first pregnancy. Median age at the time of fistula occurrence was 20.0 years (interquartile range 17.3–26.8). Half of the women attended some antenatal care (ANC); among those who attended ANC, less than 50% recalled being told about signs of pregnancy complications. At follow-up, most women (even those who were not dry) reported improvements in many aspects of social life, however, reported improvements varied by repair outcome. Prevention and treatment programmes need to recognise the supportive role that husbands, partners, and families play as women prepare for safe delivery. Effective treatment and support programmes are needed for women who remain incontinent after surgery.

Background: Obstetric stula is major public and reproductive health concerns in Ethiopia .It are most disturbing among all maternal morbidities. Method: A community-based unmatched case control study was conducted from the EDHS, 2016 dataset. All 70 cases and 210 non cases were selected using random number table from the dataset. Reproductive age mothers who had experiencing lifelong obstetric stula were considered as cases .Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with obstetric stula at 95% con dence interval. Factors signi cant at p value of ≤ 0.05 were included into multivariable logistic regression model to generate adjusted odds ratios. Results: The majority of stula cases were from rural residences. Independent risk factors associated with obstetric stula included age at rst marriage, rural residence, poorest wealth index and decision making for contraceptive use mainly husband partner. Conclusion

BackgroundMaternal outcomes in most countries of the developed world are good. However, in many developing/resource-poor countries, maternal outcomes are bleaker: Every year, more than 500,000 women die in childbirth, mostly in resource-poor countries. Those who survive often suffer from severe and long-term morbidities. One of the most devastating injuries is obstetric fistula, occurring most often in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Fistula treatment and care are available in many countries across Africa and Asia, but there is a lack of reliable data around clinical factors associated with the success of fistula repair surgery. Most published research has been retrospective. While these studies have provided useful information about the care and treatment of fistula, they are limited by the design. This study was designed to identify practices in care that could lead to the design of prospective and randomized controlled trials.MethodsSelf-administered questionnaires were completed by 40 surgeons known to provide fistula treatment services in Africa and Asia at private and government hospitals. The questionnaire was divided into three parts to address the following issues: prophylactic use of antibiotics before, during, and after fistula surgery; urethral catheter management; and management practices for patients with urinary incontinence following fistula repair.ResultsThe results provide a glimpse into current practices in fistula treatment and care across a wide swath of geographic, economic, and organizational considerations. There is consensus in treatment in some areas (routine use of prophylactic antibiotics, limited bed rest until the catheter is removed, nonsurgical treatment for postsurgical incontinence), while there are wide variations in practice in other areas (duration of catheter use, surgical treatments for postsurgical incontinence). These findings are based on a small sample and do not allow for recommending changes in clinical care, but they point to issues for possible clinical trial research that would contribute to more efficient and effective fistula care.ConclusionsThe findings from the survey allowed us to consider clinical practices most influential in the cost, efficacy, and safety of fistula treatment. These considerations led us to formulate recommendations for eight randomized controlled trials on the following subjects: 1) Efficacy/safety of short-term catheterization; 2) efficacy of surgical and nonsurgical therapies for urinary incontinence; 3) technical measures during fistula repair to reduce the incidence of post-surgery incontinence; 4) identification of predictive factors for "incurable fistula"; 5) usefulness of urodynamic studies in the management of urinary incontinence; 6) incidence and significance of multi-drug resistant bacteria in the fistula population; 7) primary management of small, new fistulas by catheter drainage; and 8) antibiotic prophylaxis in fistula repair.

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BackgroundReliable, timely information is the foundation of decision making for functioning health systems; the quality of decision making rests on quality data. Routine monitoring, reporting, and review of cesarean section (CS) indications, decision-to-delivery intervals, and partograph use are important elements of quality improvement for maternity services.MethodsIn 2009 and 2010, a sample of CS records from calendar year 2008 was reviewed at nine facilities in Bangladesh, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Uganda. Data from patient records and hospital registers were collected on key aspects of care such as timing of key events, indications, partograph use, maternal and fetal outcomes. Qualitative interviews were conducted with key informants at all study sites to provide contextual background about CS services and record keeping practices.ResultsA total of 2,941 records were reviewed and 57 key informant interviews were conducted. Patient record-keeping systems were of varying quality across study sites: at five sites, more than 20% of records could not be located. Across all sites, patient files were missing key aspects of CS care: timing of key events (e.g., examination, decision to perform CS), administration of prophylactic antibiotics, maternal complications, and maternal and fetal outcomes. Rates of partograph use were low at six sites: 0 to 23.9% of patient files at these sites had a completed partograph on file, and among those found, 2.1% to 65.1% were completed correctly. Information on fetal outcomes was missing in up to 40% of patient files.ConclusionsDeficits in the quality of CS patient records across a broad range of health facilities in low-resource settings in four sub-Saharan Africa countries and Bangladesh indicate an urgent need to improve record keeping.