Abstract
Obstetric fistula, one of the worst forms of maternal illness has a devastating impact on a woman’s life. Based on interviews with women who came to receive treatment to treat their fistula at the Ad-din Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Dhaka and Jessore, Bangladesh, the author developed a framework to describe a pathway of how the women suffering from the disease managed to get treated after overcoming a myriad of challenges and sufferings. The author concludes that in a context of devastating multidimensional suffering caused by fistula, and limited access to information, institutional support and treatment facilities, only a wider empathetic social network can help the women get treated.