Medical Breakthrough Could Save 60% of Mothers from Postpartum Bleeding Amid Aid Cuts

Fifteen years ago a visit to a hospital in Malawi changed the course of Dr. Arri Coomarasamy's life and potentially the the future of maternal healthcare.

Then 38 and training to become an IVF doctor, Coomarasamy had planned to spend a few weeks observing local medical practices. Instead, he walked into a room that turned out to be the mortuary.

Inside were three women who had just given birth. Two had died from the same cause: postpartum hemorrhage, severe bleeding after childbirth.

“I guess what I saw in that room has never really left me,” he recalls.

That moment sparked a mission to understand why postpartum hemorrhage remains the leading cause of maternal deaths worldwide, particularly in poorer countries and what could be done to stop it.

A Global Crisis That Shouldn’t Exist   

Women across rich and poor countries face similar risks of excessive bleeding during childbirth. The difference is survival.

“What differs is the likelihood of you dying,” Coomarasamy explains. “A woman doesn’t need to die from postpartum hemorrhage.”

In wealthier nations, mothers have access to emergency surgery, blood transfusions, and intensive care. In lower-income countries, those safety nets are often missing.

What Coomarasamy uncovered was what he calls a “medical scandal”  nearly half of life threatening bleeding cases were going undiagnosed.

Health workers were estimating blood loss by sight a method proven to be dangerously inaccurate. Even when hemorrhage was detected, treatment was often delayed, given step-by-step rather than all at once.

“When a woman is bleeding, what kills her is the ticking clock,” he says.

The Breakthrough That Changed Everything  

In 2023, research led by the University of Birmingham introduced a simple but powerful solution.

Clinics were equipped with:

• A low-cost blood-collection drape to accurately measure blood loss

• Immediate combination treatment, including:

• Oxytocin to contract the uterus

• Transoceanic acid to help blood clot

• IV fluids to stabilize the patient

Instead of trying one treatment at a time, all proven interventions were delivered together immediately.

The results were extraordinary.

Severe bleeding, emergency surgeries, and deaths fell by 60%.

Health workers began reporting something they had rarely experienced before: weeks and months without a single maternal death from bleeding.

When Research Meets Reality   

During visits to trial clinics, doctors and midwives repeatedly asked the same question:

“How will we get these medicines and tools once the study ends?”

The science was ready. The solution was affordable. All that remained was scaling it.

That rollout depended heavily on US-funded global maternal health programs many of which have since been drastically reduced or cancelled.

Despite assurances that life-saving aid would be protected, several initiatives designed to bring this approach into real-world clinics were halted across multiple high-risk countries.

As Coomarasamy warns:

“There is no doubt the cuts have massively impacted the rollout of life-saving interventions.”

Malawi: Where Progress Is Already Slipping   

In Malawi’s Salima district, nurse Victoria Mzungu saw firsthand how the new approach transformed outcomes.

After receiving updated training, her clinics recorded zero maternal deaths from hemorrhage this year.

Then funding cuts hit.

Critical supplies including blood-measuring drapes and key medicines became scarce. Outreach programs bringing pregnant women to clinics were cancelled.

The effects were immediate:

• Antenatal attendance dropped

• Fewer women received iron supplements

• Clinics lost track of hundreds of pregnancies

In nearby districts, excessive bleeding rates have already returned to levels seen before the program began.

One audit documented a maternal death that could likely have been prevented had training and equipment still been available.

The Hidden Cost of Aid Cuts   

Maternal health depends on more than emergency drugs.

Some US-funded programs had been improving clean water, sanitation, and dignity in maternity wards. Those projects have also been stopped, leading to fewer women attending clinics due to unsafe and degrading conditions.

Outreach efforts reaching women in remote villages often 30 km from the nearest health center were discontinued, forcing pregnant women to walk long distances even in late pregnancy.

Health experts warn this reverses years of progress.

“I feel like we’re going back 20 years,” says postpartum hemorrhage specialist Cherrie Evans.

Why Maternal Health Is a Health System Test   

Unlike HIV or malaria, maternal mortality has rarely been treated as an emergency on a global scale.

Yet experts agree: if a country can protect mothers, it has likely built a strong health system.

“Diagnosis is fundamental in medicine” Coomarasamy explains. “You can have the perfect treatment, but if women can’t reach clinics or be properly diagnosed, it won’t save lives.”

• The tragedy is that the tools now exist.

• The science exists.

• The proof exists.

What’s missing is consistent support to deliver them.

A Breakthrough at Risk   

Postpartum hemorrhage is one of the most preventable causes of death in medicine today.

A low-cost combination of training, diagnosis tools, and immediate treatment has already shown it can save six out of ten women who would otherwise face life threatening bleeding.

But without stable funding and implementation, thousands of women may never benefit from it.

And the ticking clock continues.