Above: ‘Today Show’ correspondent Jenna Bush Hager travels to
Ethiopia to shine light on maternal health. (Photo: Screen shot)

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Wednesday, December 29, 2010

New York (Tadias) – “It is the oldest medical cause in the world. There is currency dug out of pyramids containing images of fistula, yet in the 21st century it is the most neglected cause,” Dr. Catherine Hamlin, Founder of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, said in an interview with Tadias Magazine a few years ago. She was speaking about a childbirth injury that affects one out of every 12 women in Africa and approximately three million women worldwide. In developing nations, such as Ethiopia, where access to hospitals in remote areas are difficult to find, young women suffer from obstructive labor and other childbirth related health issues, which can otherwise be successfully alleviated with adequate medical support. Unassisted labor in such conditions may lead to bladder, vaginal, and rectum injuries that incapacitate and stigmatize these women.

In the following MSNBC ‘Today Show’ video, contributing correspondent Jenna Bush Hager (the daughter of former President George W. Bush), travels to Ethiopia to shine light on maternal health. She focuses on the efforts underway by the non-profit organization CARE, in collaboration with local authorities, helping women to survive childbirth injuries. The segment makes the case for continued humanitarian U.S. assistance to reduce one of the world’s highest rates of maternal and infant mortalities. According to USAID, more than 500,000 women and girls in Ethiopia suffer from disabilities resulting from complications during pregnancy and childbirth each year, and over 25,000 women and girls die annually due to pregnancy–related complications.

Watch:

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