Jane is a 27-year-old Ugandan farmer married to a policeman. During antenatal visits for her fourth pregnancy, she was told that she would need to deliver by cesarean section. Unfortunately, when she reached her local hospital in labor, she was made to wait five hours before receiving attention. Although doctors successfully delivered her daughter Praise by cesarean section, she was not catheterized, and the following day she discovered that she was leaking urine.
After Jane started leaking, she always smelled of urine. People would cover their noses when she approached, and Jane grew afraid and withdrawn. Jane’s husband wanted her to leave, but her family stood up for her and argued that her husband should help her to seek treatment. Jane borrowed money to pay for transportation to Kagando Hospital, a Fistula Care supported site five hours away. Jane received surgery and now has been completely healed. Jane says, “I feel good now because I no longer sleep in a wet bed and I can sleep till the morning because I am no longer wet.”
Jane’s husband has remarried and does not want to support Jane any longer. Jane plans to start a small business selling food in the market so that she can support her children. Jane now encourages other Ugandans with fistula to seek treatment: “if you have this problem, you can go to Kagando and they will help you like they helped me.”