Postpartum haemorrhage: new international recommendations

According to the WHO page:

• 51 recommendations cover prevention, diagnosis and treatment;
• the decision to act is no longer based only on 500 mL of blood loss: teams are advised to act from 300 mL when vital signs are abnormal;
• once haemorrhage is diagnosed, a set of actions called "MOTIVE" is recommended: uterine massage, drugs that make the uterus contract, tranexamic acid, intravenous fluids, examination of the genital tract and escalation of care if bleeding continues;
• postpartum haemorrhage causes nearly 45,000 deaths a year worldwide;
• the recommendations draw in particular on a study of more than 300,000 women in 23 countries published in The Lancet.

These recommendations are aimed at the teams that manage births: they aim to detect earlier and treat faster. They change nothing about what you have to do, but they remind us of the importance of giving birth in an organised facility and of being followed during pregnancy.

In every case, tell the team immediately about any bleeding that seems heavy after the birth, and about dizziness, pallor or feeling unwell.

Pregnancy follow-up helps identify situations at risk (anaemia, multiple pregnancy, previous haemorrhage, low-lying placenta) and prepare the birth accordingly. The doctor discusses this with you during consultations.