Breakthrough in Maternal care to save mothers & babies

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

May 15, 2023 – Mothers and newborns are dying at unacceptably high rates according to the World Health Organization because basic care is unavailable to them, but a new invention might help turn the tide.

“Global progress in reducing deaths of pregnant women, mothers and babies has flat-lined for eight years due to decreasing investments in maternal and newborn health, according to a new report from the United Nations (UN). The report shows that over 4.5 million women and babies die every year during pregnancy, childbirth, or the first weeks after birth – equivalent to 1 death happening every 7 seconds – mostly from preventable or treatable causes if proper care was available,” a report released on May 9th said.

Progress on decreasing maternal deaths halted in 2015, with around 290,000 maternal deaths each year, 1.9 million stillbirths and 2.3 million newborn deaths.  COVID-19 only exacerbated that issue.

Along with the report the WHO revealed that a new solution, called E-MOTIVE, could provide a major breakthrough in reducing risk of the leading cause of death in new mothers: childbirth-related bleeding.

It affects an estimated 14 million women each year but despite being treatable, it results in around 70,000 deaths – mostly in low and middle-income countries, the WHO says.

E-MOTIVE is a trial process that measures blood loss using a simple, low-cost collection device called a ‘drape’ and when cause for concern arises, bundles together recommended treatments instead of offering them one by one.

The WHO and UN say to increase survival rates, women and babies must have quality, affordable healthcare before, during, and after childbirth.  E-MOTIVE seems to fit the bill with bullseye precision, removing the element of guesswork involved in using visual markers for blood and instead, collecting the blood as it drips then immediately beginning treatment including uterine massage, medicines to contract the womb, and stop the bleeding, intravenous fluid administration, an examination, and when needed, escalation to advanced care.

It is also not a specialty service and midwives everywhere can be taught to perform it.  The study was performed across Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania.  Two hundred thousand women participated, and the use of E-MOTIVE resulted in dramatic improvements where severe bleeding (when a woman loses more than a litre of blood after birth) was reduced by 60 percent.