What Are the Most Common Causes of Postpartum Hemorrhage?

Although uterine atony accounted for 70% of cases in a meta-analysis, one quarter of severe or refractory cases had more than one cause.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) accounts for 1 in 4 maternal deaths globally and an estimated 11% of maternal mortality in the U.S. To quantify rates of postpartum hemorrhage from different causes and to explore associations between risk factors and PPH, researchers performed a meta-analysis that included >300 studies worldwide.

Key results were as follows:

Uterine atony was the leading cause of any PPH (71%) and of severe or refractory PPH (41%). Other causes of PPH included genital tract trauma, retained placenta, abnormal placentation, and coagulopathy; 27% of cases with severe or refractory PPH had more than one cause.
Among medical, pregnancy-related, and labor-and-delivery risk factors associated significantly with PPH, those with the strong…

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose