Dignity:Liberia to Prevent Suffering for African Women

LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo., Sept. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dignity:Liberia is building on its ten-year history of creating access to maternal healthcare in West Africa. Its new maternity waiting home, House of Hope and Dignity, will address a common but preventable injury – obstetric fistula. They seek donors and advocates for the project through their Big Push fundraising campaign.  

Obstetric fistula impacts about 1,200 Liberian women annually. It is a severe tear between a woman's birth canal and her bladder or her rectum, typically resulting from obstructed labor or from sexual assault. On average, Liberian fistula patients are seventeen years old and have had their fistula for five years. Without prevention or treatment of fistulas, they can expect lifelong suffering from physical pain, social shame, and chronic symptoms like incontinence.  

Dignity:Liberia's House of Hope and Dignity will help prevent fistula by providing regular obstetric appointments to identify high risk patients and provide attended births. Close to the local hospital, patients will also experience lower birth mortality. Partnership with the Liberian government and its citizens will be critical to ensuring the facility's sustainability. Fortunately, Dignity:Liberia has worked with a Liberian architect on the building design; it will be constructed by Liberians and, once operational, it will be staffed by a local workforce.

DIGNITY:LIBERIA

Dignity:Liberia is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization with ten years of experience providing maternal care, specifically the prevention and treatment of obstetric fistula. Its board members either grew up in Liberia or have developed close ties to the country as adults. Dignity:Liberia is also a registered Liberian NGO. The organization partners with the local medical and business communities, and those working closest with fistula survivors. Dignity:Liberia has launched a fundraising campaign, The Big Push. 

Dignity:Liberia
Kathi Gutierrez
Founder, President and Executive Director
(816) 217-8751
[email protected]
https://www.dignityliberia.org

SOURCE Dignity:Liberia

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