What are the main causes of postpartum hemorrhage?

We often see scenes in movies, TV shows and books where the mother has problems due to postpartum hemorrhage during childbirth. I believe that expectant mothers will be nervous when they see this, and worry about what to do if they encounter such a situation. Postpartum hemorrhage is so dangerous that it can be fatal in severe cases. In order to relieve the emotions of expectant mothers, today let’s talk about the main causes of postpartum hemorrhage?

Uterine atony, placental factors, soft birth canal lacerations and coagulation disorders are the main causes of postpartum hemorrhage. These causes may coexist, cause each other, or influence each other.

Postpartum hemorrhage is a common and serious complication in obstetrics. There are four main causes of postpartum hemorrhage:

(1) Postpartum uterine atony: Due to various factors, the postpartum uterine muscle fibers contract and shrink poorly, making it impossible to carry out the normal blood flow function and causing bleeding. This is the most common type of postpartum hemorrhage, accounting for 70%-75%.

(2) Retained placenta: If the placenta has not been delivered 30 minutes after the fetus is delivered, it is called retained placenta. It is divided into several types: incomplete placental separation, retained placenta after placental separation, placental adhesion, placenta accreta, and placenta retention. If the placenta cannot be expelled in time, it will affect uterine contraction and cause postpartum hemorrhage.

(3) Soft birth canal injury: During delivery, if the soft birth canal is not adapted to the size of the fetus or the fetus is delivered too quickly, it may cause soft birth canal laceration, leading to ruptured blood vessels and bleeding. For example, cervical laceration and perineal and vaginal laceration will manifest as a large amount of bright red blood continuously flowing out after the fetus is delivered late.

(4) Coagulation dysfunction: If the mother suffers from a disease with systemic bleeding tendency, such as blood disease, liver disease, etc., it may also cause postpartum hemorrhage. In addition, if this pregnancy has severe placental abruption, severe pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome, prolonged intrauterine fetal retention, amniotic fluid embolism, severe intrauterine infection, etc., which leads to disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), the coagulation factors in the blood will be consumed, which may also cause coagulation obstruction and lead to massive postpartum hemorrhage.

Above we have told you the main causes of postpartum hemorrhage. I believe that after understanding this, you will not be so panicked. In fact, what I want to say is that problems may occur during the delivery process, but these are not things to worry about now. As a pregnant woman, you just need to take good care of your body and work hard with your baby.