17/04/2026
ONE HOUR AFTER A SUCCESSFUL DELIVERY... WE WERE FIGHTING TO SAVE HER LIFE.
She was the kind of patient you point to during antenatal classes.
Booked.
Consistent.
Did everything right.
Fourth pregnancy but still careful. Still attentive. Still asking questions.
Honestly, if you were to predict who might have complications… she wouldn’t even be on your list.
When labour started, she came in on time.
Progress was smooth.
No drama. No alarms.
And then, just like that
She delivered.
A healthy baby boy.
Cried immediately. Strong. Active.
The room relaxed.
Family rejoiced.
Another successful delivery.
Or so we thought.
She was cleaned up and moved to the ward.
Stable.
No bleeding.
Everything looked perfect.
About an hour later, my phone rang.
“Doctor… please come.”
There was something in the nurse’s voice.
Not panic.
But not normal either.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I walked in.
“Her pulse is rising… BP is dropping.”
I looked at her.
She looked… different.
Not bleeding.
But not right.
We checked again.
Vitals were worsening.
Fast pulse.
Low blood pressure.
“But she’s not bleeding…” someone said.
And that was the problem.
I examined her.
And then I saw it.
Clots.
Hidden.
Quietly sitting there.
The moment we evacuated the clots…
It was like opening a tap.
Blood.
Gushing.
Uncontrolled.
Relentless!
Everything changed instantly.
“PPH!” I said.
We palpated her abdomen.
The uterus was soft.
Flabby.
Not contracted.
That was it.
Uterine atony.
The commonest cause of POST-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.
And suddenly, the woman who was perfectly fine one hour ago…
Was crashing.
We moved fast.
IV lines.
Fluids.
Uterotonics.
Everything that needed to be done was done.
But the bleeding didn’t stop.
She was getting paler by the minute.
The kind of pale that makes your chest tighten.
Her PCV before delivery was about 38%.
Good.
Very good.
Nobody was thinking blood.
But now?
We had no choice.
“Group and crossmatch four units.”
She was rushed to the theatre.
Still bleeding.
Still unstable.
While we examined her under anesthesia…
Blood was already running into her veins.
Unit after unit.
We checked for tears.
Nothing.
Checked for retained placenta.
Nothing.
Just that uterus.
Soft.
Refusing to contract.
We kept going.
More uterotonics.
More effort.
More pressure.
And then
Slowly…
Almost reluctantly…
The uterus began to firm up. 🥺
The bleeding reduced.
Then stopped.
Silence.
Relief.
She survived.
But honestly…
That could have gone very differently.
Because this wasn’t a woman who “did anything wrong.”
She did everything right.
And still she almost bled to death.
Now imagine if that delivery happened somewhere without blood.
Somewhere without a functioning blood bank.
Somewhere where help is delayed.
That baby would still be alive…
But his mother?
Maybe not.
Labour is not over when the baby is born.
It is only over when the mother is stable.
And in our environment…
Bleeding is still one of the leading causes of maternal death. 😢
Please, before you choose where to deliver, ask one simple question:
“If I start bleeding… do you have blood?”
Because in that moment.. that answer can save your life 😊.
Women's Doctor
