# Postpartum haemorrhage Condition · id `maternal:postpartum-hemorrhage` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `15708f235d73cd42` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Also called: Postpartum hemorrhage; PPH Browse, life stage: Childbirth; Postpartum ## In plain language Heavy bleeding after a baby is born. It is one of the most common complications of childbirth. It is also a leading cause of death for mothers worldwide, and most of those deaths happen in low- and middle-income countries. ## Technical summary Two definitions appear in this atlas and each belongs to its source. WOMAN let hospitals treat a woman as having PPH on a clinical diagnosis, based on estimated blood loss of more than 500 mL after vaginal birth or 1000 mL after caesarean section, or any loss that compromised haemodynamic stability. That is the trial eligibility wording, not WHO wording. WHO 2025 Recommendation 22 gives a "therapeutic definition" meant to start treatment, built on objectively measured blood loss: 300 mL or more with any abnormal haemodynamic sign, or 500 mL or more, whichever occurs first within 24 hours after birth. The older rule of thumb is a loss of more than 500 mL within 24 hours. The two burden figures from WHO (2023 and 2025) have different bases and are kept as separate claims. ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Maternal deaths worldwide in 2020 and women who experience postpartum haemorrhage each year (WHO 2023 estimates) Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women who died of maternal causes worldwide (2020 estimate) and women who experience postpartum haemorrhage each year (WHO estimate).; Care setting: Not stated in the source; Geography: Worldwide. WHO says most deaths occurred in the world least developed countries.; Life stage: Pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (burden estimate) ### WHO's 2023 recommendations say there were an estimated 287 000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2020, most of them in the world's least developed countries. WHO says obstetric haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality, accounting for 27% of all maternal deaths occurring worldwide each year, and that most of these deaths are due to postpartum haemorrhage. WHO estimates that about 14 million women experience PPH each year. - Category: Burden - Evidence stage: Evidence synthesis - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women who died of maternal causes worldwide (2020 estimate) and women who experience postpartum haemorrhage each year (WHO estimate).; Care setting: Not stated in the source; Geography: Worldwide. WHO says most deaths occurred in the world least developed countries.; Life stage: Pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (burden estimate) - Limitations: These are WHO estimates in an executive summary, not counts. The 27% is a share for obstetric haemorrhage as a whole, and the passage dates only the 287 000 figure to 2020. The 2025 WHO statement that PPH accounts for nearly one fifth of all maternal deaths has a different basis and is a separate claim. The two figures are not combined or reconciled. The sources WHO cites were not read. - Last checked: 2026-10-11 - Sources: 1. Supports: WHO recommendations on the assessment of postpartum blood loss and use of a treatment bundle for postpartum haemorrhage (Guideline, edition 2023. History and burden figures only: WHO integrated Recommendations 1 and 2 of this document into its 2025 consolidated guideline unchanged, as Recommendations 21 and 29, so the 2025 document carries the current decisions.) Locator: Executive summary, Introduction, para 1. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:01Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 36364aa61f4e3b6dc00561e5a5d6aff380639230952bda6cab1db58d81c66ad8. How it applies: WHO 2023 recommendations, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; short quotation with attribution. ## Context: Maternal deaths worldwide and postpartum haemorrhage (WHO 2025 consolidated guideline) Recipient: Maternal; Population: Maternal deaths worldwide, with the share attributed to postpartum haemorrhage, and the share of related deaths in low- and middle-income countries.; Care setting: Not stated in the source; Geography: Worldwide, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.; Life stage: Pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (burden statement). The 2025 text gives no year for its figures. ### WHO's 2025 consolidated guideline says postpartum haemorrhage accounts for nearly one fifth of all maternal deaths worldwide and is the main cause of maternal death in most low-income countries. It says about 80% of related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. - Category: Burden - Evidence stage: Evidence synthesis - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Maternal; Population: Maternal deaths worldwide, with the share attributed to postpartum haemorrhage, and the share of related deaths in low- and middle-income countries.; Care setting: Not stated in the source; Geography: Worldwide, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.; Life stage: Pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (burden statement). The 2025 text gives no year for its figures. - Limitations: The 2025 text gives no year for these figures and cites a reference that was not read. The 2023 WHO figure (obstetric haemorrhage as 27% of maternal deaths) has a different basis and is a separate claim. The two are not combined or reconciled. - Last checked: 2026-10-11 - Sources: 1. Supports: Consolidated guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage (Guideline, edition First edition, 2025. The date is the who.int page date, 5 October 2025, which the atlas uses for WHO sources and decisions; the WHO IRIS record lists an issue date of 2025-09-26 for the same document. The web annexes with the evidence base and the implementation guide were not read.) Locator: Executive summary, Introduction, para 1: nearly one fifth of maternal deaths. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:00Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 2049fb40dff7e97712c98cb58907ef662161627197a5e143ec50045abb1931de. How it applies: WHO 2025 consolidated guideline, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; short quotation with attribution. 2. Supports: Consolidated guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage (Guideline, edition First edition, 2025. The date is the who.int page date, 5 October 2025, which the atlas uses for WHO sources and decisions; the WHO IRIS record lists an issue date of 2025-09-26 for the same document. The web annexes with the evidence base and the implementation guide were not read.) Locator: Introduction, para 4: about 80% of related deaths in low- and middle-income countries. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:00Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 2049fb40dff7e97712c98cb58907ef662161627197a5e143ec50045abb1931de. How it applies: WHO 2025 consolidated guideline, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; short quotation with attribution. ## Connected pages - Recommended for this: Objective measurement of postpartum blood loss (`maternal:objective-blood-loss-measurement`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-who-2025-pph-21-objective-measurement` and its context] - Recommended for this: PPH detection and first-response treatment bundle (`maternal:pph-detection-and-first-response-bundle`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-who-2025-pph-29-bundle` and its context] - Evaluated for this: PPH detection and first-response treatment bundle (`maternal:pph-detection-and-first-response-bundle`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-emotive-detection` and its context] - Evaluated for this: Tranexamic acid for treating postpartum haemorrhage (`maternal:tranexamic-acid-pph-treatment`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-woman-death-due-to-bleeding` and its context] - Evaluated for this: Tranexamic acid for treating postpartum haemorrhage (`maternal:tranexamic-acid-pph-treatment`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-woman-composite-primary` and its context] - Recommended for this: Tranexamic acid for treating postpartum haemorrhage (`maternal:tranexamic-acid-pph-treatment`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-who-2025-pph-27-txa` and its context] - Investigated in: WOMAN trial (World Maternal Antifibrinolytic Trial) (`maternal:woman-trial`) - Related to: Calibrated blood-collection drape (`maternal:calibrated-blood-collection-drape`) ## Provenance Content hash: 2d95343541f5ff80e03812e337d81834f9ff5f866dcab8c6e552a02237192fbe Last substantive edit: 2026-10-11 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-11