A longitudinal study of incidence and mortality of postpartum hemorrhage at the Gambian tertiary hospital

Abstract

Background: Postpartum Haemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in low-income countries, and the primary cause of nearly one quarter of all maternal deaths globally. Women giving birth in low-resource settings are at a higher risk of death than their counterparts in resource-rich settings. Objective: To determine the incidence and mortality of postpartum haemorrhage at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital from January 1st – December 31st 2018. Method: This study was a retrospective, quantitative, hospital-based longitudinal study. The data was collected from the patient’s folders at the obstetrics department with no contact to the patients or caregivers. The patient’s socio-demographic and clinical data was entered into a computer database and analyzed using SPSS software version 24.0. Results: The study revealed that the incidence of PPH was 74.6%. It also shows that the most common cause of PPH was trauma 57 (42.5%). Majority of the deliveries were SVD at 87.3%, referred cases was 78.4%. Mortality due to PPH was 17.5%. Conclusion: The incidence of postpartum haemorrhage was high, trauma the leading cause but mortality showed remarkable decline when compared with previous study.