Postpartum Haemorrhage

In Victoria, postpartum haemorrhage (or PPH) caused 37 per cent of all severe acute maternal morbidity reported in 2019. Research suggests it is often avoidable.

There is increasing evidence of the psychological effects of PPH including impacts on breastfeeding, bonding, and contact time between the parents and baby. Health professionals can also be impacted by a fear of managing future PPH cases.

The PPH Collaborative took place between April 2022 and April 2023 (phase 1) and was attended by 33 health service teams. Between August and December 2023 we offered additional support to 27 maternity teams who expressed an interest in continuing work in reducing PPH.

This collaborative aimed to reduce harm to families and health professionals by standardising and improving the response to PPH across participating Victorian health services.  Arguably the most powerful impact of the project was improved recognition of PPH through the broad scale implementation of Quantified Blood Loss measurement (QBL). This important clinical and cultural transition from visually estimating blood loss, which has long been identified as inaccurate within scientific literature, has increased both the recognition of PPH and the transparency of Victorian PPH rates, leading to significant improvements in obstetric safety.