Revolutionary Treatment Regimen Reduces Maternal Deaths from Postpartum Hemorrhage.
A low-cost device called a calibrated plastic drape, paired with a bundle of treatments to stop blood loss, could help prevent an estimated 22,000 maternal deaths per year caused by postpartum hemorrhages, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The device nearly doubled the rate of accurate detection of postpartum hemorrhage compared to estimating blood loss visually. Providers who delivered a bundle of treatments within 15 minutes based on the measurement saw a 60% reduction in severe blood loss among patients. The study involved more than 210,000 women across 80 hospitals in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania.