Largest Clinical Trial on PPH the Leading Direct Cause of Maternal Mortality Worldwide

Ferring Pharmaceuticals and MSD just announced completion of the largest Clinical Trial ever conducted in Postpartum Haemorrhage, the leading direct cause of maternal mortality worldwide. Postpartum Haemorrhage (PPH) or Postpartum Bleeding is commonly defined as the loss of more than 500 ml to 1,000 ml of blood within the first 24 hours following childbirth. The report on the Clinical Trial can be downloaded here.

Real Story Illustrating the Hazards of Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH)

The announcement reminds me of a friend, who lost her life after giving birth to her third child. A working mother of two beautiful daughters, Kaira Ruth, was around 35 years old with fantastic health and fitness levels. The Ruths welcomed a cute baby boy in December 2015. This was the easiest birth of the three as Kaira told me, and she seemed to recover quickly. The new mother stayed in the hospital for about a day and a half, a typical recovery period for normal deliveries, before returning home. By the next evening, life seemed back to normal. The Ruths were fun-loving, homely people and called us over for dinner.

All of us were celebrating the arrival of the baby with champagne, music and barbeque. All of a sudden, Kaira began to feel pressure in her diaphragm and chest area. Within the hour, the pain had gotten so bad that she asked to be taken to the hospital. As Neil, Kaira’s husband, helped her into the car, she passed out, unconscious. Although the paramedics came quickly and rushed her to the emergency room, she died later that evening. "There was a lot of internal bleeding, and everything just spiraled," the treating doctor declared.

Common Causes of Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH) or Postpartum Bleeding

Sadly, the case of Kaira Ruth is all too familiar even in developed or advanced countries like the United States, where, in spite of access to the best medical care in the world, the rate of maternal death related to pregnancy or birth almost doubled between 1990 and 2005. The figures have since gone higher till date. The cause of death varies from woman to woman. Some result from infection, some hypertension, some septic shock, and some amniotic-fluid embolism, a complication in which amniotic fluid or other matter re-enters the mother's bloodstream, triggering a reaction that can result in cardiorespiratory arrest and hemorrhaging.

Steps to Protect from Post Delivery Complications

Regardless of how maternal deaths occur, the Centers for Disease Control has estimated that more than half of them could be avoided by early diagnosis and treatment. Earlier they used to keep women in the hospital for ten days after birth because they were so worried about complications arising post delivery. By the 1960s, they shortened that to five days, and in the early 2000s suddenly the hospitals switched and made everyone get out in two or three days, even in case of Caesarean sections. Our modern aspirations to superwoman strength doesn’t count, no matter what, two or three days is not enough. You are home, you are still hurting, you could be infected, you could still have something in your uterus. All these things can be extremely dangerous, and they can be easily fixed if you spot the trouble in time.

When you see women who have the best insurance losing their lives, you know there is something really, really wrong. I strongly believe that Nurses could easily be brought up to speed on Postpartum Care, and we can have all kinds of people to do that work, even physiotherapists can be trained. It would be so easy for insurance companies to cover that. Even if it saved as few as 50 lives a year, wouldn't it be money well spent? Just ask yourself...
Actually I strongly believe that it is up to individuals to take control of their healthcare by asking the right questions to the practitioners and to the nation as a whole to demand solutions that will prompt the Government to bring about changes in postpartum care. If it happens to someone healthy like Kaira, at a first-class hospital, imagine what it's like in a developing country, with not enough facilities available.

Maternal Mortality is a Global Concern, what can you do?

When you save a mother's life, you save the best person to raise her children, feed, clothe, vaccinate, educate and create a wonderful future. Mother is also the best person to contribute to her family, her economy and her environment through proper upbringing of her child. Sarah Jane Brown, campaigner for Global Health and Education, rightly says "Save the mothers and you can save the world."
Every minute of every day, somewhere in the world, a woman dies of pregnancy or birth-related complications, approximately more than a million women each year. The world mortality rate is higher now than it was a decade ago. Isn’t it pathetic?

My primary objective for this post is to create awareness and educate common people so that together we can save lives. If you want to support me in this noble cause, please share this post as much as possible. Together we can and we will bring about a positive change…