Postpartum Hemorrhage
What is Postpartum Hemorrhage?
- Postpartum Hemorrhage is when a woman is excessively bleeding due to a loss of tone in the woman's uterine muscles. PPH continues to be the lead cause of maternal mortality.
- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), PPH causes up to 60% of all maternal deaths and accounts for 59% of maternal deaths in Burkina Faso (WHO).
- PPH is when a mother loses more than 500 ml to 1 L (depending on the type of delivery) of blood within the first 24 hours of childbirth
- Symptoms include increased heart-rate, faintness when standing and increased breath.
- Developing countries specifically struggle to terminate the problem of PPH because caregivers may not be as experienced due to lack of resources
About InPress Technologies
- InPress Technologies is a medical device company using their devices to end postpartum hemorrhage (PPH)
- They have produced an intrauterine device that mimics the body's natural mechanism for combating PPH without other surgical procedures that could be very invasive
- Their goal is "to make the InPress Device affordable and accessible in developed and developing countries thus helping save the lives of women around the world" (InPress Technologies' website)
InPress Device
- The device helps mirror the body's natural mechanism for healing after child birth
- Goal for the device: to not only treat the symptoms of PPH but to stop the bleeping by stimulating uterine contraction
- The device helps the uterine contract to the normal postpartum size
- The device stops PPH quickly and effectively without the use of pharmaceuticals, hysterectomy, or other invasive surgeries
InPress Device Current Limitations
- The Device is not FDA approved
- The InPress staff is working hard to test the device in remote hospitals in Uganda