Ethiopian woman and her baby. The Bixby Center is researching innovative programs to reduce maternal mortality among rural Ethiopian women. They have concluded that misoprostol is a safe intervention at the community level to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. Picture by Amita Sreenivas
Bixby researchers found that community health care workers in rural Ethiopia can effectively administer misoprostol to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide. They argue that it is imperative that safe motherhood programs direct their efforts to tackle postpartum hemorrhage wherever the births occur.
In research published in the African Journal of Reproductive Health, Bixby authors demonstrated that postpartum hemorrhage at home births in rural areas has been greatly reduced with the use of misoprostol as a prophylaxis where women have limited access to health care. Postpartum hemorrhage is associated with a third of maternal deaths in Africa. This study found that prophylactic use of misoprostol in home births is both a safe and feasible intervention and that community health care workers trained in misoprostol’s use can correctly and effectively administer the drug and champions in reducing PPH morbidity and mortality.
To read the full study click Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage Rural Ethiopia
To learn more about Bixby’s work preventing postpartum hemorrhage click here.