Family support: Saving mothers in Balochistan

QUETTA:

Those were depressing days after 30-year-old Seema Gul discovered that she was suffering from fistula disease. Before that, she did not even know what that meant.

“I went into depression and thought I am going to die,” she says, talking to The Express Tribune at the Fistula Rehabilitation in Christian Hospital Quetta, sitting next to her 55-year-old husband, Akbar.

Seema gave birth to nine babies in 16 years and following the delivery of her tenth child last year, she developed the fistula. The ordeal of leaking urine constantly had made her life a living hell. All her children, except her tenth child who did not survive, were born at home with the help of a traditional birth attendant (TBA).

Seema got married when she was just 12 years old. “The maximum age of marriage for our girls is 15,” said Akbar, explaining their tradition. However, despite a conservative mindset, he has stood by his wife. “I sold some stuff of my house and borrowed money to pay for the initial treatment. I am really thankful to these doctors who are now treating my wife for free,” he said.

There are three fistula rehabilitation centres in Balochistan, all located in the provincial capital Quetta. These centers are run by Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health (PNFWH) and UNFPA. “Last year, 108 patients, mostly from rural Balochistan, were brought for treatment,” said Ahsan Tabassum, Project Coordinator, Operation Fistula, Balochistan. “Their husbands usually support them and I have not witnessed any husband abandoning his wife,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2014.