Effectiveness of a Blood Collection Bag in Preventing Maternal Shock from Postpartum Hemorrhage

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to develop a blood collection bag and to study the effectiveness of the bag in assessing the volume of blood loss in mothers with postpartum hemorrhage in order to prevent maternal shock. In the process, a blood collection bag was designed and created based on the prototype developed by Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University; followed by a mass production to obtain sufficient number of the bags for a clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of the bag in measuring the amount of blood loss which would be used as an indicator to monitor the severity of the hemorrhage. The study samples were pregnant women underwent vaginal delivery in Burirum hospital dutring the period from April to September 2014, compared with the outcomes of postpartum hemorrhage among pregnant women with vaginal delivery in the years 2012-2013 before the invention of the bag. Addtional assessment included the production cost and users’ satisfaction. It was found that the blood collection bag was appro-priate to the hospital context; and it was effective in collecting blood and provided rapid assessment of blood volume from postpartum hemorrhage with 96.67% accuracy. Compared to the previous year, the percentage of detection increased from 0.47% to 2.11%; and the incidence of maternal shock reduced from 0.09% to 0.00%. The production cost was 78.00% lower than that of the prototype bag. Further-more, high level of users’ satisfaction was also observed. The bag was subsequently certified for its safety through an independent profession assessment.