Fistula Politics: Birthing Injuries and the Quest for Continence in Niger (Medical Anthropology)

Obstetric fistula is a birthing injury caused by prolonged obstructed labor that results in urinary and fecal incontinence. It is nearly non-existent in the Global North. In contrast Niger, in West Africa, has one of the highest rates of fistula in the world. In Western humanitarian and media narratives, fistula is presented as deeply stigmatizing, resulting in divorce, abandonment by kin, exile from communities, depression and suicide. In __Fistula Politics__, Alison Heller illustrates the inaccuracy of these popular narratives and shows how they serve the interests not of the women so affected, but of humanitarian organizations, the media, and local clinics. "Obstetric fistula is a birthing injury caused by prolonged obstructed labor that results in urinary and fecal incontinence. It is nearly nonexistent in the Global North. In contrast, Niger, in West Africa, has one of the highest rates of fistula in the world. In Western humanitarian and media narratives, fistula is presented as deeply stigmatizing, resulting in divorce, abandonment by kin, exile from communities, depression, and suicide. In Fistula Politics, Alison Heller illustrates the inaccuracy of these popular narratives and shows how they serve the interests not of the womem so affected, but of humanitarian organizations, the media, and local clinics. At the heart of this book are the intimate stories of one hundred Nigérien women with fistula who struggle to navigate West African health care systems and find meaning in their quests for continence."--Back cover Part I: Incontinence and inequalities -- Living incontinence -- Laraba's story -- Fistula stigma -- Liminal wives -- Part II: Clinical encounters -- Beds, sixty minutes -- The "worst place to be a mother"--The indeterminable wait -- Part III: The marketplace of victimhood -- Arantut's story -- Superlative sufferers -- Costs and consequences -- The threshold of continence Obstetric fistula is a birth injury caused by prolonged obstructed labour that results in urinary and fecal incontinence. In Western humanitarian and media narratives, fistula is presented as deeply stigmatizing. Alison Heller illustrates these popular narratives only serve the interests of humanitarian organisations, the media, and local clinics.