11/06/2026
Deeqa* knows what fear looks like. She felt it herself.
Deeqa grew up in Baidoa. She was married at 13. At 14, she became pregnant for the first time. She was in labour for eight days.
She lived in a rural area, There wasn’t a skilled birth attendant available. When it became clear that the delivery was not progressing, she was loaded onto an old pickup truck — the only transport that could be found — and brought to a hospital in Baidoa. By then, she had been in critical labour for more than a week. She lost consciousness after delivery, her child didn’t survive. When Deeqa woke up from her coma fifteen days later, she was leaking urine continuously. She didn't know why.
Deeqa had developed obstetric fistula – a devastating childbirth injury. The younger the mother and the longer the labour without intervention, the greater the risk of injury.
"I have been suffering from this condition for 17 years because I didn't know any better," she says. Deeqa tried several times to go to a hospital, but every time, she was overcome with fear. "I ran away because I was afraid,” she recalls. “I thought that once you went into the surgery room, you would die. It was only when I met people who had surgery, I realised it was possible to be cured."
Now, Deeqa is one of the patients at the MSF fistula care unit at Bay Regional Hospital in Baidoa in 2025, The unit offers free surgical repair, pre- and post-operative care, nutrition support, and psychosocial support.
Deeqa speaks openly about what she believes caused her own case — and what she would want to change.
"I would urge the community not to marry off young girls who are 13 and 14 years old," she says. "They aren't ready for childbirth. I believe that if I had waited, this suffering would never have happened to me."
*Name has been changed to protect privacy
