As CURE International celebrates moms, we’d like to share one of the ways we are changing the lives of mothers at our hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Many Afghan mothers suffer with an obstetric fistula (OF). An obstetric fistula is a hole between a woman’s birth passage and one or more of her internal organs that usually develops when a woman gives birth. It has largely been eliminated in the West, but is still prevalent in the developing world.  (To find out more information, go here and here.)

There are many factors contributing to the existence of obstetric fistula in Afghanistan. They include lack of access to emergency obstetrical and/or prenatal care, malnutrition, poverty and limited formal education opportunities for women.

The CURE International Hospital in Afghanistan is committed to giving Afghan moms a way to find relief and healing from this terrible condition. The hospital offers an OF surgical treatment program that covers the cost of surgery, the hospital stay and transportation to and from the hospital.

This wouldn’t be possible without the assistance of our valued partner, Women’s Hope International (WHI).  WHI sponsors the treatment costs of all of our obstetric fistula patients and supports the ongoing expansion of outreach and education activities.

WHI and CURE also work together to develop health worker capacity to expand treatment of obstetric fistula. WHI is supporting a complete renovation of a fistula hostel on the hospital property. As our initial donor in OF, we are most grateful for the support and pioneering efforts of Women’s Hope International.

In addition to offering life-changing surgery, CURE Kabul also trains its doctors and nurses in complex fistula procedures and surgeries. A major supporter of this training is the Fistula Foundation (FF).

Due to the FF’s generosity, CURE Kabul has been able to expand treatment for Afghan women suffering from obstetric fistula through specialized training for Afghan health workers. As a result, we are building the capacity of national health practitioners in the fields of OB/GYN surgery, nursing and anesthesia. CURE Kabul is also expanding its OB/GYN surgical teaching team to enable trained surgeons to perform more fistula repair surgeries.

By developing national capacity to treat simple and complex fistula cases and increasing the number of specialty trainers,  CURE Kabul has been able to increase the amount of surgeries performed at its hospital by 100 percent.  We are encouraged and empowered by the financial support of the Fistula Foundation.

CURE Kabul leads the way in freeing Afghan moms from the pain and humiliation of obstetric fistula thanks to the dedication and support of these two generous partners.

Remember, you can bring healing and hope to a mom at a CURE hospital this Mother’s Day.  Go here to get started.