Sexual and Reproductive Health
Every year around 350,000 women die as a consequence of pregnancy and birth—and of this, 99 per cent occur in developing countries although most deaths could be prevented (read more >). DSW implements development projects and does advocacy work in order to increase access to health care services. Attention needs to be raised to assure a healthy young population and safe motherhood. Therefore, sexual and reproductive health and rights need to be a subject that is advanced to the top of the political agenda.
Our basic concept refers back to the Cairo Programme of Action of 1994. Ever since, sexual and reproductive health has become a major concern around the world. Starting in 2000, eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were signed by 189 member states of the United Nations (UN). MDG 5 aims to combat maternal deaths by decreasing its number by three-quarters and assuring universal access to reproductive health. Today, this remains the MDG with the least progress.
Obstetric Fistula
Child marriage, early pregnancy and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) are among the reasons for about two million women suffering from obstetric fistula. Every year, some 100,000 new cases occur - mostly in developing countries.
Obstetric fistulas are a severe obstetric injury which particularly affects young women whose body is not yet prepared to give birth. Often, patients are only 13 or 14 years old when they become pregnant for the first time. At this age, the pelvis is still very small, which can easily lead to complications. The child is often stillborn, and the young woman suffers serious internal injuries. But there are also prenatal complications: during prolonged obstructed labor, the continuous pressure of the head of the baby against the tissue in the lower abdomen cuts off the blood supply and part of the tissue dies. This results in holes between the vagina, the bladder and the bowel - obstetric fistulas. As a consequence, affected women become unable to control their excretions.
Another consequence is social ostracism: because of their smell of urine and bowel content, the women are cast out of society and often hidden in sheds at the edge of the village. Besides ignorance, there is the misbelief that the blame for their misery lies with the women themselves.
At the same time, most obstetric fistulas can be closed by means of a simple surgical intervention with a high success rate: 90 per cent of obstetric fistulas can be cured. However, in most developing countries public hospitals lack skilled staff and the necessary medical equipment to conduct such surgery.
In addition to medical care, information is therefore vital: girls and young women should not become pregnant when they are teenagers, but only when their bodies are fully developed. To prevent this, they need access to information and contraception to be able to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies. But also their parents and society at large need to be included in prevention work: to sustainably prevent obstetric fistulas from occurring, women must be empowered and child marriage abolished.
