Footsteps to Healing

Footsteps to Healing http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/continuing-education/global-health-center/collaboration/global-collaboration-in-ethiop.cfm

Footsteps to healing: OHSU Global Women’s Health Initiative:
OHSU health care providers provide medical training and service in key areas of women’s health in Ethiopia. The Problem: There is a silent epidemic of women in Ethiopia suffering from conditions related to complications of child birth - such as obstetric fistula, urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. An obstetric fistula is a

hole that develops between the va**na and re**um or bladder due prolonged obstructed labor. This is primarily due to lack of access to adequate obstetric services. This injury, if left untreated, causes constant leakage of urine or f***s, or both, resulting in social isolation, shame, psychological and physical trauma. While obstetric fistula is very rare in developed countries that have access to timely cesarean section or operative va**nal delivery, an estimated 8,000 new cases affect Ethiopian women every year. Contributing further to this burden is a profound shortage of trained obstetrician-gynecologists in Ethiopia. More long-term consequences of obstructed labor may compromise pelvic floor support. This leads to pelvic organ prolapse, where organs within the pelvis or va**na such as the uterus, the bladder, or the re**um may protrude into the va**na and outside of the body. Because of a lifetime of heavy physical activity such as carrying water from the river, wood for fuel, or children, in addition to having multiple va**nal deliveries, Ethiopian women are at a high risk for pelvic organ prolapse and obstructed labor. If prolapse occurs, these women have difficulty emptying their bladder and bowels, engaging in normal physical activity, or being intimate with their partners. Many women have little to no access to appropriate conservative or surgical management of this condition in Ethiopia. This is because, there are few to no health care providers specifically trained in pelvic floor reconstructive surgery in Ethiopia. Furthermore, the cost of surgery, even if it was available, is often prohibitive to most rural women who are extremely poor. These pelvic floor conditions are preventable and treatable. Join us in our mission to reduce the devastating physical, social, and psychological burden of these conditions on Ethiopian women.

10/29/2016
Summary of our work!
10/27/2016

Summary of our work!

Uterova**nal prolapse is a pelvic floor disorder caused by loss in support from the pelvic floor which results in the uterus, bladder, or re**um protruding f...

2016 Newsletter! Learn more about our project and don't forget to purchase tickets for our upcoming event on 11/14/16.
10/19/2016

2016 Newsletter! Learn more about our project and don't forget to purchase tickets for our upcoming event on 11/14/16.

10/30/2014
Take a look at what we've been up to in our most recent newsletter!
05/18/2014

Take a look at what we've been up to in our most recent newsletter!

05/08/2014

Happy Mother's Day! This year, we invite you to celebrate the women in your life by making a donation to Footsteps to Healing, dedicated to the individual of your choice. We will send a beautiful Footsteps to Healing card for any donation above $50.00. By donating $175, you can cover the cost of one pelvic surgery for a woman.

Your tax deductible donation can be made to the global OHSU Foundation/Global Women’s Health Initiatives through our website at www.ohsuwomenshealth.com/global.

05/08/2014

In February 2014, members of Footsteps to Healing OHSU Global Women’s Health Initiative headed for Ethiopia for the fourth time in four years, to provide much needed surgery for 48 women in rural Ethiopia with the most severe form of pelvic organ prolapse. This year’s trip marks the completion of approximately 200 surgeries since the inception of this project in 2010. Thank you to all of our supporters!

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05/04/2014

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01/31/2014

The team is boarding now for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Thanks to everyone who has supported this trip.

11/14/2013

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Portland, OR

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+15034184500

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