Maternal & Newborn Atlas
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Calibrated blood-collection drape

A drape used at vaginal birth that collects the blood and carries volume markings, so the amount lost can be measured instead of guessed by eye.

Also called Calibrated drape · Blood-collection drape

  • Technology
  • In this atlas

Overview

Technical summary

WHO 2025 Recommendation 21 names calibrated drapes for women having vaginal birth as one way to measure blood loss objectively. The recommendation is for the measurement, not for a drape or a product. WHO says most of the available evidence for vaginal birth comes from a calibrated drape. It also says tray and jar alternatives are not supported by evidence of diagnostic accuracy. E-MOTIVE tested the drape only as one part of a package with a treatment bundle and an implementation strategy, so no effect on health outcomes is credited to the drape alone.

How it works

Blood is collected in a calibrated container, so the volume is read directly. This replaces a visual estimate, which WHO calls frequently inaccurate.

Strengths

  • Calibrated drapes have been shown to quantify blood loss more accurately than visual estimation (WHO 2025, Recommendation 21 remarks).

Limitations

  • Most of the evidence is for vaginal birth; WHO says measuring blood loss at caesarean birth is also clinically important.
  • WHO says current evidence does not support the diagnostic accuracy of alternatives such as blood collection trays and jars, so any device should be evidence-based.
  • The 2023 WHO background says the earlier evidence for calibrated drapes used alone, compared with visual estimation alone, showed no clear effects on PPH-related health outcomes. The 2025 recommendation links measurement to a standard treatment protocol.

Required infrastructure

  • A standardized treatment approach or protocol linked to the measurement (WHO 2025, Recommendation 21 remarks).

Claims and evidence

No claims are published for this technology yet.

Record details

Record id
maternal:calibrated-blood-collection-drape
Content hash
ca85531709785be7fd7a83b1444146c99fc2b51957eb58e181ce254b7622704c