A hospital & rehabilitation center for today and the future
Terrewode Women's Community Hospital
is the first and only medical facility of its kind in Uganda offering specialized care, social support, and reintegration services for women and girls with obstetric fistula and other childbirth injuries.
In addition to state-of-the-art health care—offered at no cost to patients—the hospital advances initiatives to prevent fistula, improve maternal health, and empower economic self-sufficiency among fistula survivors.
Located just northwest of the town of
Soroti, the hospital serves women and
girls in eastern, central and northern
Uganda—all living in poverty. Terrewode
staff also provide education about
fistula and safe motherhood to
communities in their region.
A nurturing environment equipped to treat hundreds women each year
Manjeri Esaete gave birth to her first child less than a year after a forced marriage. It was a difficult delivery, but not nearly as grueling as the prolonged labor that led to the birth of her second child, which tore a small hole between her birth canal and her bladder that leaked urine — a fistula.
While delivering her third child, Manjeri's small fistula ripped into a gaping hole that leaked urine constantly and uncontrollably. She lived this way for 57 years — until she came to Terrewode Women’s Community Hospital, where she received holistic fistula treatment by highly trained doctors and nurses, as well as counseling, support from Fistula Solidarity Groups, and more.
“For the first time in my life, I felt a huge relief,” Manjeri says. “I’m so excited. I’m now OK.”
5 Key Components of Terrewode’s Obstetric Fistula Program . . .
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TREATMENT | At full capacity, Terrewode Women’s Community Hospital will provide 600 women a year with high-quality, holistic fistula treatment, including care before surgery that promotes healing after surgery. The hospital has improved surgical success rates through comprehensive, patient-centered care, including optimal nutrition and the necessary rest post-surgery to allow for full healing. The hospital also provides follow-up care, which is critically important in achieving long-term continence, yet is rarely provided in underfunded government facilities.
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REINTEGRATION | Surgery alone is not enough to heal from the trauma of obstetric fistula. Even after successful surgery, many women report lingering distress, depression, family discord and other challenges. Terrewode’s reintegration program includes:
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Individual, family, and marital counseling
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Education about safe motherhood and family planning
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Training on legal and economic rights, advocacy and empowerment
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Social support as women return to their communities
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Life skills, microfinance education, entrepreneurship, and income-generating skills such as making and selling goat milk soap.
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Fistula Solidarity Groups facilitated by Terrewode provide ongoing social support as women return to their communities, including co-counseling, micro-savings groups, self-reliance after fistula and opportunities to identify and support other women suffering from fistula.
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PREVENTION | Fistula survivors in Terrewode’s prevention program sing, share personal stories, and dance to raise awareness about the causes of fistula and strategies to prevent it. Other prevention strategies include radio ads about fistula and safe motherhood, innovative school programs informing high school youth about the dangers of child marriage and teen pregnancy, both causes of Uganda’s high rates of fistula and maternal death. Plans are underway to build capacity for providing safe delivery services at Terrewode Women’s Community Hospital in the coming years.
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AWARENESS & ADVOCACY | Terrewode trains a vibrant grassroots network of outreach volunteers who lead community activities to raise awareness about the cause and prevention of fistula. Volunteers identify and refer women for fistula treatment and support women as they return to their communities. All volunteers and fistula survivors receive education about their sexual and reproductive health rights, as well as tools and mentoring to advocate for their rights.
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RESEARCH | Terrewode has a robust research program to examine the needs of women with fistula, test and improve programs, treatment, and reintegration outcomes, and ultimately move the field of fistula knowledge forward.
