Background
Bleeding after childbirth, also known as postpartum hemorrhage, is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in Georgia and the rest of the world. In 2008, the Georgian Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs approved national guidelines for childbirth management. These guidelines include a method called Active Management of the Third Stage of Labour (AMTSL), which is used to reduce the number of postpartum hemorrhages, the quantity of blood loss and the need for blood transfusions. The Kutaisi Maternity Hospital is one of the hospitals in Georgia where AMTSL has not been implemented, despite the national guidelines.

About the project
This project was created to reduce the number of postpartum hemorrhages at Kutaisi Maternity Hospital by introducing active management of third stage labour. The project team reviewed the hospital’s existing practices and then conducted both theoretical and practical trainings on AMTSL for the medical staff.

Results
By the end of the project, 61% of all deliveries between April and August 2008 were managed using the AMTSL technique. The postpartum hemorrhage rate was 1.7% before the project, but it dropped to 0.86% after the implementation of AMTSL. The number of women receiving blood transfusions in connection to childbirth also decreased, from 0.89% before the project to 0% after the implementation. The project team have now successfully scaled the project to other maternity hospitals in Georgia in order to combat postpartum hemorrhages and save more women’s lives.

Year: 2008