VVF Surgeries

Without access to proper obstetric care, women in developing nations can spend days in agonizing labour before finally delivering a stillborn child. For those who survive, many develop the debilitating condition known as Vesico-vaginal Fistula (VVF).

Millions of women live daily with the humiliation and dejection that goes with VVF. The World Health Organization estimates more than two million women and girls worldwide suffer from fistulas, with 50,000 to 100,000 new cases each year.

When prolonged labour or other trauma causes a fistula or hole to form between the bladder and vagina, normal life becomes impossible because of the constant trickle of urine, and sometimes faeces. In parts of the world where a woman’s worth lies in her usefulness as a wife and in her ability to bear children, their husbands and families often abandon them to suffer alone.

Mercy Ships performs free fistula repair surgeries onboard the Africa Mercy. After recovering in the ship's ward, the healed patients are given new outfits as symbols of their restored life.