Assessment of ‍Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Early Post- Partum Hemorrhage in Cesarean Deliveries

One of the most important cause of mortality in parturients is early postpartum severe hemorrhage that accounts for 28% of maternal death.

The aim of this study was to determine prevalence of postpartum hemorrhage in cesarean section and requirement of blood transfusion during 24 hours after operation.

This was a cross sectional study that performed among patients who underwent cesarean section at Alzahra Hospital in Rasht in 2000. Selection of 1600 records out of 3200 records by systematic Randomization was the base of this study. Of these, 100 records were omitted because of poor information and the rest (1500 records) were considered with these variables: blood transfusion requirements, kind of anesthesia, amnionitis, kind of uterine incision and labor abnormalities. Test of chi-square has been used for making a comparison between two groups, namely those requiring blood transfusion and those who didn’t need it.

Our study showed that incidence of early postpartum hemorrhage in cesarean deliveries was 2.26 percent and it was similar to other studies and the risk factors associated with early postpartum hemorrhage were pre-eclampsia, labor abnormalities and general anesthesia.

Considering the results obtained, women with preeclampsia or labor abnormalities or receiving general anesthesia, were at higher risk of early severe hemorrhage after cesarean section. Thus, the hospital should be well- equipped in dealing with such high- risk patients.