She has both VVF and RVF which she developed five years ago in yet another case of delayed and eventually skilled assisted birth. My two children are dead and they would have been five and three years old by now. I am divorcee of 5 years; my husband left me when I got this problem. To make it worse she is physically impaired, having had amputation of her foot due to bullet injuries in Somalia during war.

My second child was delivered by C/S but died after birth. This was most likely to be subsequent to prolonged labor as she tried giving birth at home yet again and managed to reach a health centre run by SOS when it was too late. Owing to insecurity I couldn’t get medical help thereafter as the health agency ceased services in the area.

Asked what she perceives the root cause of the problem could be, she informs us that traditional birth attendants are the norm in Somalia as expected due to civil strife. They use traditional herbs as injections to stimulate labour which sometimes bring complications to the women. They also use crude methods to get the baby out during prolonged/obstructed labour, many mother die as a results and children as well.

If what Halima says is anything to go by, stigma levels in OF are very high in the community. ‘Apart from someone’s own mother, who could stand you anyway, when leaking urine and stool at the same time? I feel like a destitute as nobody cares about me. My mother died a long time ago. My father is alive, but he is not concerned about me’.