The life of a 12-year-old girl in Uganda who gave birth and suffered a gynecological injury after losing her fetus has been saved by a doctor who volunteers to helps African patients once or twice a year.
Dr. Devorah Heymann of the obstetrics and gynecology department at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot set up a voluntary organization that helps young women and girls in Uganda, where she goes once or twice a year. She is the only Israeli doctor who has done a recognized medical rotation (clinical clerkship by medical students during their final year of study) in a Third World country.
She performs operations on patients with a fetal fistula – which is almost unknown in Western countries but very common in the developing world.
These women, who do not have access to hospitals and other medical institutions, give birth at home. Some develop a hole in the birth canal as a result of the birth, causing the uncontrollable escape of urine and feces that can endanger life. Those who survive suffer not only physically but are also usually ostracized by their family and society.
She recently returned from a surgery camp she conducted in Uganda, where she treated the 12-year-old girl. In Uganda, schooling actually saves these girls from deterioration, but due to the COVID-19 virus, the schools there were closed, and one of the girls she cared for became pregnant.
Her delivery was very difficult and lasted about two days, the fetus did not survive, and she developed a fistula. Due to her health condition, she was prevented from continuing to attend school, but after the surgery, she recovered completely.