A new blueprint offers definitive solutions to end one of childbirth's deadliest complications

Geneva, 12 June 2026 -- A landmark Lancet Series definitively estimates that excessive bleeding after birth affects 27 million women, kills nearly 43 000 women every year and costs countries, health systems and families globally over US$ 10 billion each year.

The Series, with lead researchers from HRP (the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction), the World Health Organization (WHO), and University of Oxford amplifies a fundamental shift in how postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), a leading cause of maternal deaths worldwide, should be detected and treated.

The Series highlights the importance of implementing the latest consolidated guidelines on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage. Important new elements include treating postpartum haemorrhage as soon as 300 mL of blood is lost if accompanied by abnormal vital signs. The treatment protocol also includes measuring blood loss with a calibrated blood collection drape, disrupting an entrenched practice in maternity care of visually estimating blood loss. The Series concludes that visually estimating blood loss after birth is grossly inaccurate as it results in missing half of PPH cases.

The Series also highlights missed opportunities to prevent haemorrhage before it starts. Reducing anaemia in pregnancy, addressing the unmet need for contraception, avoiding medically unnecessary caesarean sections, and ensuring all women receive effective uterotonic medicines after birth could substantially lower the global burden of postpartum haemorrhage.

Importantly, the Series emphasizes that a simple 5-in-1 first-response treatment bundle, known as the PPH bundle with the acronym MOTIVE, can transform outcomes. By ensuring that every woman with postpartum haemorrhage immediately receives uterine massage, an oxytocic drug, tranexamic acid, intravenous fluids, and examination for the source of bleeding, health workers can dramatically reduce progression to life-threatening haemorrhage by up to 60%. The approach is specifically designed so that midwives and nurses can act immediately rather than waiting for specialist review.

The Series frames postpartum haemorrhage as a race against time. The authors identify six critical delays during care from diagnosis to treatment, escalation and access to blood products, that often determine whether a woman survives. In an era of effective medicines, simple diagnostic tools and an evidence-based treatment bundle, no woman should die from postpartum haemorrhage because help came too late.

The challenge now is implementation. The Series calls on governments, health systems, professional associations, donors and, more broadly, the global health community to make postpartum haemorrhage an urgent priority. By equipping every birth facility, empowering frontline health workers, and adopting proven interventions at scale, thousands of lives could be saved each year.

Related links

Consolidated guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage

Consolidated guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage: implementation guide

Elimination of deaths from postpartum haemorrhage

WHO's work on maternal health

Human Reproduction Special Programme (HRP)

Fact sheet: Maternal mortality

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