CGPH FACULTY: Ndola Prata
DATE OF PUBLICATION: February 2014
REGION: Asia
REFERENCE: Prata N, Bell S, Quaiyum MA. Modeling maternal mortality in Bangladesh: the role of misoprostol in postpartum hemorrhage prevention. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2014 Feb 20;14:78. doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-14-78.
SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: Bangladesh is one of the few countries that may actually achieve the fifth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in time, despite skilled birth attendance remaining low. The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential role misoprostol can play in the decline of maternal deaths attributed to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in Bangladesh. This theoretical exercise hypothesizes that prophylactic use of misoprostol at home births may contribute to a reduction in the risk of death due to PPH, in addition to reducing the incidence of PPH. If findings from this modeling exercise are accurate and uterotonics can prevent maternal death, misoprostol could be the tool countries need to further reduce maternal mortality at home births.
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