2025 September
A Letter from the Executive Director
Dear Friends and Supporters,
I am delighted to share an overview on our transformative work in Ghana. Over the past year, our commitment to advancing maternal healthcare has taken a significant step forward through our partnership with the Mercy Women’s Catholic Hospital Fistula Center in Mankessim. This work represents a vital part of our mission to prevent and treat childbirth injuries, particularly obstetric fistula, and to restore dignity and hope to women across Ghana.
Joe Kinahan
Executive Director
Maternal Health Foundation
In late 2023, MHF began a revitalization project at the Mercy Fistula Center (MFC), a 20-year-old, 30-bed facility in Mankessim. Capital funding multiplied your donations to expand and upgrade the center, bringing it fully back online after only four months of renovation. The center now serves as Ghana’s national referral hub for fistula care and operates as an annex teaching facility under Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. Since January 2024 MFC has performed over 220 fistula surgeries including. The nursing staff stay in regular phone contact with all discharge fistula patients for a minimum of three months.
Through close collaboration with our Medical Director, Dr. Gabriel Ganyaglo – Head of Urogynecology at Korle Bu and Chair of Ghana’s national fistula task force – we have integrated new services that address the holistic needs of patients. These include pelvic floor physiotherapy for post-surgery recovery, comprehensive mental health screening, and targeted interventions for lingering incontinence and other complications.
MFC receives operational funding from the Fistula Foundation for most surgeries based on meeting performance targets and patient outcomes. These partnerships are key to ensuring free, high-quality surgical care remains sustainable at MFC.
This work in Ghana embodies our belief that lasting change happens when local leaders are resourced and empowered to create regional and national centers of excellence. The dedication of the Mercy Fistula Center team inspires us every day, and together we are building a model of holistic care that can be replicated across Sub-Saharan Africa.
We remain deeply grateful to our partners, donors, and friends who make this work possible. Your continued support fuels our mission to improve maternal health outcomes and restore dignity to women across the continent.