Social Worker's Investigation of Childbirth Injured Women in Northern Nigeria

A Social Worker's Investigation of Childbirth Injured Women in Northern Nigeria investigates Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF), a childbirth injury commonly found among younger adolescent wives in northern Nigeria. Women with fistulae continuously drip urine. Their offensive odor often leads to life as social outcasts. Millions of women across Africa and the developing world suffer from this condition, but it is preventable and curable. This work examines the problem from the perspective of a social worker. It is not intended as a medical treatise, but instead deals with the condition from an ecological perspective using a systems approach. Its focus is on VVF as it relates to the social environment of the affected women. The author defines and describes VVF as it manifests itself in Africa, along with the history and epidemiology of the condition and its treatment. It describes the life course of Hausa women who are most affected by VVF in northern Nigeria and how their position in society predisposed them to childbirth injury. Testimonials of the victims about their struggles of survival and their road to a cure are narrated. Short and long term preventive measures are given. The empowerment of northern Nigerian women for the eradication of this condition is a fundamental and underlying theme of this work.