If only she could say the same of her labor experience.

“I began feeling the contractions when I was in the house before making my way to hospital as they increased in intensity. I thought that once in hospital it would be just a matter of minutes before I held my baby in my arms. But this was not to be for I continued laboring for two days with no baby in sight. It was only on the third day of my hospital stay that I finally delivered my baby though a vaginal birth. I was so exhausted by then,” she remembers.

But the worst was yet to come for the young mother.

“My baby was born dead. It was a boy. They told me that he had already died in my womb. I couldn’t understand it. Hadn’t I been feeling the baby kicking in my tummy all along? What then did they mean that he had already died in the womb?” she wondered.

When Caroline questioned the nurses about it, asking why her baby had died, their answers only confused her more.

“They told me that ‘death is common with childbirth’ in a dismissive tone, before moving on to other tasks. I was offered no explanation about my baby’s death. I never questioned them again about it as I felt as though I would be pestering them,” she remembers.

But Caroline’s problems did not end there. She soon noticed that she was unable to control her urine.

“I was wetting myself all the time. I was confused, because I had always been able to control my urine before. So what was wrong this time?”

Caroline however concluded that it could have been the stress of losing her first born child, and the shattered dreams of being a mother that could have been causing her to leak urine.

She returned home to her husband, hoping that the problem would go away once the grief had subsided.

But it never did.

Empathetic with her situation, Caroline’s husband advised her to wear washable napkins to contain her urine. But despite this, things were still never the same for her.

“Even though I wore napkins, sometimes the urine would leak and I would smell. I became scared of mixing with my fellow women in church, in women’s groups, at the market, at weddings, burials and other functions. When not out in the farm working, I preferred to stay indoors. My life for the past twelve years has been a very uncomfortable one,” says 32 year-old Caroline, who hails from Kisii, Nyanza Province, in the Western part of Kenya.

Caroline had developed a fistula during her prolonged labor with her child, who unfortunately did not survive.

It was however not all gloom for Caroline, for she was able to conceive and bear more children – two more sons and one daughter, who are today aged between 2 – 10 years.

“I must thank my husband for being supportive all through. I have heard of women with such conditions like mine, and who were deserted by their husbands. That however did not happen for me, as my husband has been by my side all through. In fact, he formally married me just three years ago,” she says.

Last month, her husband came home with some good news. It was an announcement he had heard over the radio on Egessa FM, a vernacular radio station of the Royal Media Services group which broadcasts in their native Kisii language.

“He told me that there were people coming to Kisii to treat women with conditions such as mine. He told me to go the Kisii Level 5 Hospital and register for the same, which I did.”

Caroline underwent a successful fistula repair surgery in September 2015, after having lived with the condition for 12 years. Her joy is evident.

“I am a very happy woman today. My life will finally go back to normal and I will be able to do so many things that I have not been able to do over the last decade. I will be able to accompany my children to school functions, I will be able to join my fellow women in functions such as weddings and chama’s, without any inhibition. Previously, I would only send my contributions to such kinds of activities, but not anymore. I will now be attending them in person. I am very happy and grateful to the people who offered me this treatment free of charge.”

Caroline was one of the 73 women who underwent successful fistula repair surgery at the Kisii Level 5 Hospital during the free fistula medical camp. The camp was sponsored by the Freedom from Fistula Foundation (FFF) and the Flying Doctors Society of Africa (FDSA) in collaboration with the Royal Media Services and the Kisii Level 5 Hospital.

“Even though I delivered in hospital under the guidance of skilled birth attendants, something went wrong with my tear (episiotomy). The nurse cut me up and the tear went all the way up to my anus. This then caused me to start leaking faeces uncontrollably,” she says.

A few days after birth, an uncomfortable Hellen who knew something was wrong returned to the hospital. The nurses then stitched her up again. She returned home to her family, relieved that the unpleasant stool leaking episodes were over.

But things did not turn out that way.

“I still continued leaking faces. When I returned to hospital, the nurses told me there was nothing they could do because they had already ‘done so much’. They told me to return home and concentrate on taking care of my newborn,” she remembers.

At home, Hellen, a kindergarten teacher, decided to make the best of her situation. She reduced her food intake so that she wouldn’t feel the need to pass stool often. She also decided to wear diapers in order to contain the faeces. Unfortunately, these did not work out well for her.

“While the diapers did indeed contain the stool and prevent me from soiling my clothes, I would however get many infections in my vaginal area due to the movement of the stool from the back to the front. I had to stop wearing diapers because I was always in hospital seeking treatment from vaginal infections,” she says.

Hellen had developed recto-vaginal fistula (RVF) following the birth of her child. But despite the negative outcome of the birth of her second child, it did not deter Hellen for having more children, for four years later, in 2010, she gave birth to her third child.

Unfortunately though, Hellen says that the tear only got worse after this delivery.

“It became larger, meaning more faeces passed out. This time round, they took me to theatre to have the tear stitched,” she says.

However, after the stitches wore off, the stool continued leaking as before. Nothing had changed. She was distraught.

Hellen is grateful that because she teaches young children, she did not have to quit work, scared and ashamed to be among fellow adults.

“Children are innocent and will not gossip you with malicious intent. Besides, whenever I had a strong foul smell, they would assume that it was one of them that had farted and would not make a big deal of it,” she says.

Hellen would however always stay away from the staff room but when it was absolutely necessary that she be there, she would isolate herself in a corner, away from the rest of her colleagues.

That was her life for nine years, until she saw an announcement on local television station Citizen TV, calling on women who leaked urine or faeces – or both, to make their way to the Kisii Level 5 Hospital for free treatment. Hellen heeded to this call and underwent a successful recto-vaginal repair surgery.

Today, Hellen walks with a gait in her step.

“I feel different. I feel new; refreshed. It is as though I have gotten a new lease of life. I had lost all hope in life, but now I will now be able to comfortably mingle with my colleagues in the staff room. I have no shame or fear anymore,” an elated Hellen concludes.

Hellen is one of the 73 women who benefited from the free fistula camp at the Kisii Level 5 Hospital in September 2015. She was one of the 42 RVF cases that were operated on. The VVF/RVF camp was sponsored by the Freedom from Fistula Foundation (FFF), the Flying Doctors Society of Africa (FDSA), in collaboration with Royal Media Services and the Kisii Level 5 Hospital.

The livestock farmer was even more elated when she conceived her eighth child. She knew the pregnancy, labor and birth would all go well –just as had happened seven times before, and she would be able to resume her normal duties and chores in the homestead.

Only that this time round, things did not go as expected. Nankin developed complications during labor which saw her deliver her baby through a caesarean section. But things would even turn more awry for her, for it was because of this surgery that she developed a fistula, which left her with unable to control her urine.

The bad news did not end there. The marriage which she had enjoyed with her husband broke down. This was after her husband deserted her following her inability to control urine, which would leave her with a permanent foul smell. She was left to fend for all her eight children. That was seven years ago.

On her own, she was left unable to educate her children as she cannot afford the related costs. She is also uneducated. Aside from that, two of her children are now deceased.

Nankiu has never been able to afford the luxuries of wearing nappies or diapers to contain her urine flow.

“I stay in the homestead most of the time. I only have to keep changing my clothes. This however has its own challenges because I cannot afford to keep washing my clothes all the time because access to water is a problem in the area I live in. Water is a treasured and scarce resource. My children and I have to use our water sparingly, so many times I have to stay with urine-soaked clothing all day long,” she says.

However, all that changed in September 2015 when a neighbor informed her about free treatment for women who leaked urine such as her. She then made her way to Kisii Level 5 Hospital where she underwent a successful VVF.

“I am happy, excited at being made whole again. It is a treatment that I could never have afforded, no matter how many years or decades I would have tried to save. I thank all those people who have made this possible for me. I will now be able to get out of the homestead and start looking for new business opportunities that will enable me send my children to school,” she says.

Nankiu is one of the 73 women who underwent successful fistula repair surgery at the Kisii Level 5 Hospital during the free fistula medical camp. She was one of the 31 women whose vesico-vaginal fistulas were repaired by a qualified team of doctors from Kenya. The camp was sponsored by the Freedom from Fistula Foundation (FFF) and the Flying Doctors Society of Africa (FDSA) in collaboration with the Royal Media Services and the Kisii Level 5 Hospital.