FREQUENCY OF CAUSES OF PRIMARY POSTPARTUM HAEMORRHAGE IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Objective: To study the frequency of causes of primary postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in women managed in a tertiary care Hospital. material and Methods: The study was conducted in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Unit – l, Lady Willingdon Hospital/ King Edward Medical University, Lahore from July 2013 to December 2013. All the women having postpartum haemorrhage after vaginal delivery in the labour room or referred with primary postpartum haemorrhage were included in the study and were evaluated to see the frequency of postpartum haemorrhage as well as the causes of PPH in women being treated in a tertiary care unit. Results: During the study period 1344 women delivered in unit I and 250 patients developed postpartum haemorrhage giving frequency of primary postpartum haemorrhage 18.60%. Majority of the women 29.6% (n = 74) were between 26 – 30 years of age, mean and SD was 28.43 ± 4.76 years. The gestation of 55.2% (n = 138) patients was between 37 – 40 weeks. The frequency of postpartum haemorrhage in booked women during antenatal period was recorded as 25.2% (n = 63) while 74.8% (n = 187) were not booked in any health facility. Among patients who developed PPH, uterine atony was the most common cause 57.6% (n = 144), followed by genital tract tears which was 29.2% (n = 73). The rest of the causes of PPH were retained placenta in 10% (n = 25), uterine rupture in 3.6% (n = 9) and uterine inversion in 1.6% (n = 4). Conclusions: Postpartum haemorrhage is still a leading but preventable cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in our country due to under utilization of health facilities, the major cause is uterine atony followed by perineal tears.