School of Midwifery, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Faculty of Public Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2022 Sep 29;17(9):e0275318. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275318. eCollection 2022.
Obstetric fistula remains a debilitating complication of childbirth and maternal morbidity in developing countries. Few studies document the challenges and coping mechanisms among women living with obstetric fistula in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the challenges and coping mechanisms among women with obstetric fistula in Ethiopia.
A phenomenological study was employed among purposively selected eleven women with obstetric fistula and three key informants at five fistula treatment centers in Ethiopia. An in-depth interview was conducted, audio-recorded, and transcribed into a Microsoft Word document. The transcripts were imported into Atlas. ti version 8.4 for thematic analyses.
Painful social life, consequences of fistula, and coping mechanisms with fistula problems were the main themes in this study. Difficult social life, stigma, discrimination, impaired marital status; psychological, physical, sexual, and reproductive health problems were the major challenges for women with obstetric fistulas. Women with fistulas used coping mechanisms such as-going to spiritual sites and drinking alcohol to cope with their fistula disease; separating themselves from community participation and living alone in the forest to cope with a painful social life; restricting the amount of drinking water and wearing many clothes at a time to cope with wetness and odors, and allowing their husband to marry a new wife to cope with the impaired marital responsibilities.
Women with obstetric fistulas encountered challenges such as a painful social life, impaired marital status, psychological, physical, sexual, and reproductive health problems; and used coping mechanisms with their fistula condition, difficult social life, and impaired marital responsibility that may have an added negative effect on their overall health. Therefore, policymakers need to prioritize the availability and early utilization of obstetric fistula surgery in all settings for all women living with obstetric fistulas to restore their holistic health.
产科瘘仍然是发展中国家分娩和产妇发病率的一种衰弱性并发症。很少有研究记录埃塞俄比亚生活在产科瘘女性所面临的挑战和应对机制。因此，本研究旨在探讨埃塞俄比亚产科瘘女性所面临的挑战和应对机制。
本研究采用现象学方法，在埃塞俄比亚的五个瘘管治疗中心，对 11 名产科瘘女性和 3 名关键知情人进行了有针对性的选择。进行了深入的访谈，录音，并转录为 Microsoft Word 文档。将这些转录本导入 Atlas.ti 版本 8.4 进行主题分析。
痛苦的社会生活、瘘管的后果以及应对瘘管问题的机制是本研究的主要主题。社会生活困难、耻辱、歧视、婚姻状况受损；心理、身体、性和生殖健康问题是产科瘘女性的主要挑战。瘘管妇女使用了一些应对机制，例如去圣地和饮酒来应对瘘管疾病；将自己与社区参与隔离开来，独自生活在森林中，以应对痛苦的社会生活；限制饮水的量和一次穿很多衣服，以应对潮湿和气味，以及允许丈夫娶新妻子来应对受损的婚姻责任。
产科瘘女性面临着痛苦的社会生活、婚姻状况受损、心理、身体、性和生殖健康问题等挑战；并使用了应对机制来应对瘘管状况、困难的社会生活和受损的婚姻责任，这可能对她们的整体健康产生额外的负面影响。因此，政策制定者需要优先考虑在所有环境中为所有生活在产科瘘女性中提供并尽早利用产科瘘手术，以恢复她们的整体健康。
