Primary Postpartum Haemorrhage at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital: Incidence And Risk Factors
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Abstract
Background: Globally, postpartum haemorrhage is a leading cause of severe maternal morbidity and mortality. Approximately 14 million women suffer postpartum haemorrhage annually and at least 128,000 of these women bleed to death. Most of these deaths occur within four hours of delivery and are as a result of problems during the third stage of labour. Majority of these deaths occur in developing countries of the world where facilities are poorly developed with lack of trained attendants at delivery.
Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the incidence, risk factors, causes and outcome of primary postpartum haemorrhage at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), south-south, Nigeria.
Methods: This was a retrospective study of all consecutive births between January 1st and December 31Bt, 2011 at UPTH. The socio- demographic characteristics, mode of delivery, cause of primary postpartum haemorrhage, antenatal/ intrapartum risk factors, treatment received and outcome were extracted from the patients' case notes, entered into SPSS version 15.0 and analysed.
Results: Of the 3,694 women who were delivered at the maternity unit of UPTH, 178 had primary postpartum haemorrhage giving an incidence of 4.28%. Uterine atony was the leading cause and delivery by Caesarean section was the leading risk factor. There were 5 mortalities from primary postpartum haemorrhage.
Conclusion: The incidence of primary postpartum haemorrhage in UPTH is 4.28%. Uterine atony was the leading cause while Caesarean section was the commonest risk factor. Efforts should therefore, be made to reduce the caesarean section rate and improve surgical skills aimed at reducing blood loss at surgery.
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