Peripartum hysterectomy can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Most studies of peripartum hysterectomy are from high income countries. This cohort study examined risk factors for peripartum ...hysterectomy using data from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
We used data from the World Maternal Antifibrinolytic (WOMAN) trial carried out in 193 hospitals in 21 countries. Peripartum hysterectomy was defined as hysterectomy within 6 weeks of delivery as a complication of postpartum haemorrhage. Univariable and multivariable random effects logistic regression models were used to analyse risk factors. A hierarchical conceptual framework guided our multivariable analysis.
Five percent of women had a hysterectomy (1020/20,017). Haemorrhage from placenta praevia/accreta carried a higher risk of hysterectomy (17%) than surgical trauma/tears (5%) and uterine atony (3%). The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for hysterectomy in women with placenta praevia/accreta was 3.2 (95% CI: 2.7-3.8), compared to uterine atony. The risk of hysterectomy increased with maternal age. Caesarean section was associated with fourfold higher odds of hysterectomy than vaginal delivery (AOR 4.3, 95% CI: 3.6-5.0). Mothers in Asia had a higher hysterectomy incidence (7%) than mothers in Africa (5%) (AOR: 1.2, 95% CI: 0.9-1.7).
Placenta praevia/accreta is associated with a higher risk of peripartum hysterectomy. Other risk factors for hysterectomy are advanced maternal age, caesarean section and giving birth in Asia.
Abstract The reported maternal mortality for morbidly adherent placenta ranges from 7% to 10% worldwide. Current treatment modalities for this potentially life-threatening condition include radical ...approaches such as elective peripartum hysterectomy with or without bowel/bladder resection or ureteric re-implantation (for placenta percreta infiltrating these organs), and conservative measures such as compression sutures with balloon tamponade and the placenta remaining in situ. However, both conservative and radical measures are associated with significant maternal morbidity and mortality. The present article describes the Triple-P procedure—which involves p erioperative placental localization and delivery of the fetus via transverse uterine incision above the upper border of the placenta; p elvic devascularization; and p lacental non-separation with myometrial excision and reconstruction of the uterine wall—as a safe and effective alternative to conservative management or peripartum hysterectomy.
Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is responsible for about 100,000 maternal deaths every year, most of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. Tranexamic acid (TXA) reduces bleeding by inhibiting ...the enzymatic breakdown of fibrin blood clots. TXA decreases blood loss in surgery and reduces death due to bleeding after trauma. When given within 3 h of birth, TXA reduces deaths due to bleeding in women with PPH. However, for many women, treatment of PPH is too late to prevent death. Over one third of pregnant women in the world are anaemic and many are severely anaemic. These women have an increased risk of PPH and suffer more severe outcomes if PPH occurs. There is an urgent need to identify a safe and effective way to reduce postpartum bleeding in anaemic women.
The WOMAN-2 trial is an international, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to quantify the effects of TXA on postpartum bleeding in women with moderate or severe anaemia. Ten thousand women with moderate or severe anaemia who have given birth vaginally will be randomised to receive 1 g of TXA or matching placebo by intravenous injection immediately (within 15 min) after the umbilical cord is cut or clamped. The primary outcome is the proportion of women with a clinical diagnosis of primary PPH. The cause of PPH will be described. Data on maternal health and wellbeing, maternal blood loss and its consequences, and other health outcomes will be collected as secondary outcomes. The main analyses will be on an 'intention-to-treat' basis, irrespective of whether the allocated treatment was received. Results will be presented as appropriate effect estimates with a measure of precision (95% confidence intervals). Subgroup analyses will be based on the severity of anaemia (moderate versus severe) and type of labour (induced or augmented versus spontaneous). A study with 10,000 patients will have over 90% power to detect a 25% relative reduction from 10 to 7.5% in PPH. The trial will be conducted in hospitals in Africa and Asia.
The WOMAN-2 trial should provide reliable evidence for the effects of TXA for preventing postpartum bleeding in women with anaemia.
ISRCTN, ISRCTN62396133 . Registered on 7 December 2017; ClincalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03475342 . Registered on 23 March 2018.
Post-partum haemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of maternal death worldwide. The WOMAN trial assessed the effects of tranexamic acid (TXA) on death and surgical morbidity in women with PPH. The ...trial recorded 483 maternal deaths. We report the circumstances of the women who died.
The WOMAN trial recruited 20,060 women with a clinical diagnosis of PPH after a vaginal birth or caesarean section. We randomly allocated women to receive TXA or placebo. When a woman died, we asked participating clinicians to report the cause of death and to provide a short narrative of the events surrounding the death. We collated and edited for clarity the narrative data.
Case fatality rates were 3.0% in Africa and 1.7% in Asia. Nearly three quarters of deaths were within 3 h of delivery and 91% of these deaths were from bleeding. Women who delivered outside a participating hospital (12%) were three times more likely to die (OR = 3.12, 95%CI 2.55-3.81) than those who delivered in hospital. Blood was often unavailable due to shortages or because relatives could not afford to buy it. Clinicians highlighted late presentation, maternal anaemia and poor infrastructure as key contributory factors.
Although TXA use reduces bleeding deaths by almost one third, mortality rates similar to those in high income countries will not be achieved without tackling late presentation, maternal anaemia, availability of blood for transfusion and poor infrastructure.
Family planning services in the post-partum period, termed post-partum family planning (PPFP) is critical to cover the unmet need for contraception, especially when institutional delivery rates have ...increased. However, the intention to choose PPFP methods such as post-partum intrauterine devices (PPIUD) remains low in countries such as Nepal. Community health workers such as Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) could play an important role in improving the service coverage of PPFP in Nepal. However, their knowledge of PPFP and community-based services related to PPFP remain unclear. This study aims to assess the effect on community-based PPFP services by improving FCHV's knowledge through orientation on PPFP.
We conducted this mixed-methods study in Morang District in Nepal. The intervention involved orientation of FCHVs on PPFP methods. We collected quantitative data from three sources; via a survey of FCHVs that assessed their knowledge before and after the intervention, from their monthly reporting forms on counseling coverage of women at different stages of pregnancy from the communities, and by interviewing mothers in their immediate post-partum period in two selected hospitals. We also conducted six focus group discussions with the FCHVs to understand their perception of PPFP and the intervention. We performed descriptive and multivariable analyses for quantitative results and thematic analysis for qualitative data.
In total, 230 FCHVs participated in the intervention and their knowledge of PPFP improved significantly after it. The intervention was the only factor significantly associated with their improved knowledge (adjusted odds ratio = 24, P < 0.001) in the multivariable analysis. FCHVs were able to counsel 83.3% of 1872 mothers at different stages of pregnancy in the communities. In the two hospitals, the proportion of mothers in their immediate post-partum period whom reported they were counseled by FCHVs during their pregnancy increased. It improved from 7% before the intervention to 18.1% (P < 0.001) after the intervention. The qualitative findings suggested that the intervention improved their knowledge in providing PPFP counseling.
The orientation improved the FCHV's knowledge of PPFP and their community-based counseling. Follow-up studies are needed to assess the longer term effect of the FCHV's role in improving community-based PPFP services.
Intrapartum fetal surveillance aims to predict significant fetal hypoxia and institute timely intervention to avoid fetal injury, and do so without unnecessary operative delivery of fetuses at no ...risk of intrapartum hypoxia. However, the configuration and application of current clinical guidelines inadvertently undermine these aims because of persistent failure to incorporate increased understanding of fetal cardiovascular physiology and adaptations to oxygen deprivation, advances in signal acquisition/processing, and related technologies. Consequently, the field on intrapartum fetal surveillance is stuck in rudimentary counts of the fetal R–R intervals and visual assessment of very common, but nonspecific fetal heart decelerations and fetal heart rate variability. The present authors argue that the time has come to move away from classifications of static morphological appearances of FHR decelerations, which do not assist the thinking clinician in understanding how the fetus defends itself and compensates for intrapartum hypoxic ischaemic insults or the patterns that suggest progressive loss of compensation. We also reappraise some of the controversial aspects of intrapartum fetal surveillance in modern obstetric practice, the current state of flux in training and certification, and contemplate the future of the field particularly in the context of the emerging role of artificial intelligence.
Aim
To compare the efficacy and safety of dinoprostone vaginal insert (DVI) alone versus DVI with adjunctive sweeping of membranes (ASM) for induction of labor (IOL).
Methods
Single‐center, ...prospective, randomized controlled trial; women with singleton term pregnancies, cervical dilation ≥1 and <3 cm, intact membranes allocated to either DVI or DVI with ASM. The primary outcome was vaginal delivery within 24 h of insertion. Secondary outcomes included mean time from insertion to delivery, tachysystole, operative delivery for non‐reassuring fetal status (NRFS), tocolytics, fetal outcomes, pain information, and subject satisfaction.
Results
One hundred and four received DVI (Group 1) alone and 104 DVI with ASM (Group 2). The rate of vaginal delivery within 24 h was 53% versus 56%, cesarean rate 8.7% versus 10.6% in Groups 1 and 2 respectively. Although the duration of labor was similar in both groups, about 6% of women required additional ripening with dinoprostone vaginal tablets in Group 2 compared to 11.5% in Group 1 (p‐value = 0.2). The frequency of hyperstimulation syndrome, failed induction, analgesic requirements, and fetal outcomes were comparable. The majority (83%–86%) in either cohort were satisfied with their labor experience. Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated a slightly better chance for vaginal delivery within 24 h (odds ratio OR 1.22 95% confidence interval, CI 0.65–2.29; p‐value 0.53 for DVI with ASM, although statistically insignificant. Younger maternal age and multiparity (OR 10.36 95% CI 4.88–23.67; p‐value <0.0001) contributed to successful IOL.
Conclusion
DVI with ASM is at least as efficacious as DVI for cervical ripening with no increase in morbidity. Although DVI with ASM group less often needed additional dinoprostone tablets to complete the process of IOL (p‐value = 0.2), adjunctive sweeping has not been shown to have a significant impact on the duration of labor or mode of delivery.
In severe post-partum haemorrhage, death can occur within hours of bleeding onset so interventions to control the bleeding must be given immediately. In clinical trials of treatments for ...life-threatening bleeding, established treatments are given priority and the trial treatment is usually given last. However, enrolling patients in whom severe maternal morbidity or death is imminent or inevitable at the time of randomisation may dilute the effects of a trial treatment.
We conducted an exploratory analysis of data from the WOMAN trial, an international, randomised placebo-controlled trial of the effects of tranexamic acid on death and surgical intervention in 20,060 women with post-partum haemorrhage. We assessed the impact of early maternal death or hysterectomy due to exsanguination on the effect of tranexamic acid on each of these respective outcomes. We conducted repeated analyses excluding patients with these outcomes at increasing intervals from the time of randomisation. We quantified treatment effects using risk ratios (RR) and 99% confidence intervals (CI) and prepared cumulative failure plots.
Among 14,923 women randomised within 3 h of delivery (7518 tranexamic acid and 7405 placebo), there were 216 bleeding deaths (1.5%) and 383 hysterectomies due to bleeding (2.8%). After excluding deaths from exsanguination at increasing time intervals following randomization, there was a significant reduction in the risk of death due to bleeding with tranexamic acid (RR = 0.41; 99% CI 0.19-0.89). However, after excluding hysterectomies at increasing time intervals post-randomization, there was no reduction in the risk of hysterectomy due to bleeding with tranexamic acid (RR = 0.79; 99% CI 0.33-1.86).
Findings from this analysis provide further evidence that tranexamic acid reduces the risk of death from exsanguination in women who experience postpartum haemorrhage. It is uncertain whether tranexamic acid reduces the risk of hysterectomy for bleeding after excluding early hysterectomies.
ISRCTN trial registration number ISRCTN76912190, 8 Dec 2008; ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00872469, 30 March 2009; PACTR number PACTR201007000192283, 9 Feb 2010; EudraCT number 2008-008441-38, 8 Dec 2010 (retrospectively registered).
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