Fistula clinic helps Nigerian women

Next: Fistula clinic helps Nigerian women

Nigeria women health fistula 1 2011 3 25

Before and after surgery, patients are taken through daily exercises.
- [Penny Bradfield/GlobalPost]
Nigeria women health fistula 2 2011 3 25

Exercise balls strengthen abdominal muscles and improve women's continence.
- [Penny Bradfield/GlobalPost]
Nigeria women health fistula 3 2011 3 25

Most Nigerian women prefer to give birth at home but Sadiya, 16, went to hospital after her pregnancy became obstructed.
- [Penny Bradfield/GlobalPost]
Nigeria women health fistula 4 2011 3 25

"If I hadn't come (to hospital), I would have suffered much more and the end result would have been death for both of us," said Sadiya.
- [Penny Bradfield/GlobalPost]
Nigeria women health fistula 10 2011 3 25

Music is a big part of therapy. Patients dance during their morning exercises.
- [Penny Bradfield/GlobalPost]
Nigeria women health fistula 13 2011 3 25

The MSF fistula ward is an upbeat place but sadness often shows on the faces of patients like Nana, 16.
- [Penny Bradfield/GlobalPost]
Nigeria women health fistula 15 2011 3 25

Dr Kees Waaldijk has been performing fistula operations for almost 30 years and has trained MSF's surgeons.
- [Penny Bradfield/GlobalPost]
Nigeria women health fistula 20 2011 3 25

A healthy baby in the nursery.
- [Penny Bradfield/GlobalPost]
Nigeria women health fistula 22 2011 3 25

Dr Said Abubakar performs a fistula repair. Last year, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) carried out more than 400 repairs at Jahun General Hospital in northern Nigeria.
- [Penny Bradfield/GlobalPost]
Nigeria women health fistula 25 2011 3 25

"They come in as ghosts, as shells of human beings ... and then they meet other women like themselves and realize they're not freaks," says nurse Aisleen Glasby.
- [Penny Bradfield/GlobalPost]