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Document Type

Article

Abstract

Nearly one-quarter of all maternal pregnancy-related deaths worldwide are a result of post-partum hemorrhage (PPH) [1]. In the Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event Database, hemorrhage was a causal factor in over half of the cases leading to maternal death or severe morbidity [3]. Between 1993 and 2014, the rate of PPH per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations increased by almost five times, from 4.3 to 21.2 [3]. Using visualization to estimate blood loss is currently the primary method for assessment. However, a new, alternative assessment technique is using quantitative measurement. These two techniques were compared through a literature review. The literature review was conducted using MEDLINE Complete and CINAHL Complete, and five studies were identified. These studies were appraised and synthesized to answer the PICO question: in post-partum mothers, is the use of quantitative blood loss assessment or visually estimated blood loss effective in the early identification of PPH? The literature indicated that using a quantitative method to estimate postpartum blood loss early is more effective than using a visual estimation method and may reduce the number of PPHs. These findings can be implemented into nursing practice by incorporating a quantitative blood loss assessment protocol for post-partum mothers. Annual simulation-based training on this new method may be an appropriate means of educating point-of-care healthcare providers. With these changes, health care facilities should collect morbidity and mortality rates, incidence rates, treatment rates, and the time-to-treat rate to measure the effectiveness of the quantitative blood loss method.

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