He called on the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) to help developing countries improve data collection and extend access to free medication, as well as midwifery and obstetric care.

BBC: Last Updated: Sunday, 2 March 2008, 00:25 GMT

Several options are being considered, but the trust has said its preferred plan is to have consultant-led obstetric services, neonatal services including the special care baby unit, in-patient paediatric services and emergency gynaecology services at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings.

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That's because obstetric fistulas were largely eradicated from the United States by the 20th century, with strides in prenatal care and the use of cesarean section.

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