Women Not Just “Messier Versions” Of Men

An obstetric fistula is a hole that develops as a result of tissue death during prolonged labor in childbirth, usually between the vagina and bladder, sometimes between the vagina and rectum. The breach allows a woman’s urine or feces to leak out of her body, and the woman has no control over it.

These women are most likely to be poor in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The women are from various backgrounds, ethnicities and age groups. In fact, they share only one condition, writes Glendora Meikle, they all suffer the damage while trying to bring new life into the world.

Read more at NPR