Birth Matters OK

A simple sheet can reduce postpartum deaths

A woman dies from postpartum haemorrhage somewhere in the world every 12 minutes. Many of these deaths could be prevented.

Researchers found that the drape, when used alongside a specialised first response treatment bundle, led to a 60 per cent reduction in primary outcome in vaginal births, which means severe bleeding, death or surgery.

“In our wildest dreams, when we planned the trial, we thought we might get a 25 per cent in our primary outcome. When we got the results, it was mindblowing,” says Devall. “I have been doing clinical trials for almost 20 years now and I have never seen an effect size of this magnitude.”

Many options exist to manage and treat postpartum hemorrhage, yet it remains a leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity globally, even in developed countries.

One of the reasons for this is estimating blood loss during birth isn't always easy.

Blood can get soaked into gowns, sheets, pans, etc.

A plastic sheet or drape with measurement pouch for blood loss can help providers better assess blood loss and implement treatment faster.

In this study, the sheet was combined with a treatment model, in this study called Motive. It included uterine massage to encourage contractions, medication and IV fluids.

Rather than waiting for clinical signs of severe hemorrhage, intervention could be started as soon as blood loss was estimated to be concerning.

Perhaps that frustrating part of studies like these is these products are NOT new. They are NOT expensive. Yet everyone doesn't have access and even where access exists, not all providers or facilities routinely use these.

Studies like this emphasize the importance of low resource options for managing birth complications. Whether someone lives in a low resource area or they have access to an OR down the hall, this can improve outcomes and avoid organ injury, surgery, and fatalities.

These types of drapes/sheets are common in some facilties. Have you seen them used?

Full article below.