Postpartum hemorrhage: Cheap lifesaver ‘cuts deaths by a third’
A cheap drug has been shown to stop women bleeding to death, in a discovery that should change practice around the world, say researchers.
Every year, 100,000 women die from massive bleeding in the moments after giving birth.
But an international study, in the Lancet, suggests ‘tranexamic acid’ could cut that by a third, BBC wrote.
Postpartum hemorrhage is the biggest cause of death during pregnancy and early motherhood.
“They gave me 41 bottles of blood,” said Nosheen, from Rawalpindi, in Pakistan who nearly died after the birth of her daughter.
Nosheen’s life was saved only by an emergency hysterectomy.
She said: “Doctors told me that they will have to remove my uterus to save my life.
“My health is completely destroyed, and I am very upset about it.”
Tranexamic acid might have helped Nosheen.
It stops blood clots breaking down to make it easier for the body to stem bleeding.
It was invented by husband and wife Shosuke and Utako Okamoto in Japan in the 1960s.
But they could not convince local doctors to perform a clinical trial for postpartum hemorrhage.
So instead it was picked up by a pharmaceutical company and used as a treatment for heavy periods.
Eventually, a study was coordinated by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in a collaboration of 193 hospitals mostly in Africa and Asia.
Prof. Utako Okamoto died, aged 98, just after the 20,000th and final patient was enrolled on to the trial that would finally prove she had been right.
Lifesaving
It found tranexamic acid cut deaths by a fifth overall and by 31 percent in those given the drug within three hours of birth.
Prof. Ian Roberts, one of the researchers, said: “We’ve got an important result.
“We found an inexpensive drug, given in a single shot, that reduces the risk of bleeding to death, and it should play a role in reducing maternal mortality around the world.”
The World Health Organization said it would update its recommendations for treating postpartum hemorrhage.