By PPH Foundation
Postpartum haemorrhage, PPH, can turn an otherwise routine childbirth into a medical emergency within minutes. When severe bleeding occurs, medicines and other interventions may be needed immediately, but for some mothers, access to safe blood and blood products can be critical to survival.
The World Health Organization, WHO, estimates that haemorrhage accounts for about 27% of maternal deaths globally. Severe bleeding can become fatal quickly when a woman cannot receive timely, appropriate treatment.
This is why a blood donation is more than a contribution to a blood bank. It can become part of the chain of care that keeps a mother alive when she loses a dangerous amount of blood after childbirth.
When a woman experiences significant PPH, health workers first work to identify and control the source of bleeding. WHO's current PPH guidance recommends rapid recognition and a package of interventions that includes uterotonic medicines, tranexamic acid, intravenous fluids, examination and escalation of care when necessary. In cases where bleeding continues or blood loss is substantial, transfusion may be required.
But a transfusion can only happen when compatible, screened blood is available.
Prof Julius Ogeng’o, Co-Lead of the End Postpartum Haemorrhage Initiative, captures the importance of bringing blood collection closer to communities: “Blood access is not simply a clinical supply issue; it must be a family and community priority. When families plan ahead, know blood types, and engage with blood donation systems before delivery, we see faster responses and lives saved.”
The challenge is not simply collecting blood. It is ensuring that blood is safely collected, tested, processed, stored and distributed through systems capable of getting it to a health facility when it is needed.
WHO's 2026 Global Status Report on Blood Safety and Availability found persistent gaps in the sufficiency, safety and equitable availability of blood and blood products, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. WHO also recommends strengthening systems based on regular, voluntary, unpaid blood donation.
For PPH, this means that preparedness must extend beyond the delivery room. Communities need opportunities to donate blood regularly, health facilities need functional transfusion systems, and health workers need the capacity to recognise and respond rapidly to severe bleeding.
This is the thinking behind the ROAMING Blood Initiative, which has been working to bring blood donation closer to communities and strengthen mobilisation around voluntary blood donation. During the 3rd PPH School and the 3rd International EndPPH Run, blood donation activities were incorporated into the wider campaign, with partners and volunteers supporting collection and community mobilisation.
Every unit collected represents a potential resource for someone facing an emergency. It may be separated into components and used according to a patient's clinical needs, allowing donated blood to support more than one person where appropriate.
For a mother experiencing severe PPH, however, the significance is deeply personal. Behind every request for blood is a woman who needs urgent care, a newborn who needs a mother to come home, and a family waiting for good news.
Blood donation therefore belongs to all of us. A donor may never know whose life their blood will help save. But when a mother needs it, having that blood available can mean the difference between life and death.
The message is simple: blood should be available before the emergency happens.
References
- World Health Organization. Global status report on blood safety and availability 2025. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2026. WHO publication
- World Health Organization. Consolidated guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. WHO PPH guidelines
- World Health Organization. Blood safety and availability. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2026. WHO blood safety and availability
- World Health Organization. Many pregnancy-related complications going undetected and untreated – WHO. 8 March 2025. WHO maternal mortality and haemorrhage update
- Image by Magnific