Avoiding loss of blood

Twenty-eight-year-old Vanessa Berendt* got away with no more than a fright. It was her first child, her pregnancy proceeded without complications, and the delivery also went well. Her baby was healthy. But an hour after she gave birth she suddenly began to bleed severely. Thanks to the experience of the physicians at the Department of Obstetrics at University Hospital Zurich (USZ), the bleeding was soon under control and Vanessa Berendt was out of danger.

Around one in ten women loses half a liter or more of blood after childbirth. This postpartum bleeding occurs unexpectedly and can be life-threatening. If it’s not possible to control the bleeding with surgery or blood-clotting agents, an embolization of pelvic arteries is necessary, or the woman’s womb even has to be removed. These are risky measures that also mean the mother has to go into intensive care – separated from her newborn child.

“These days giving birth is a lot less risky than it used to be. But postpartum bleeding is a repeated occurrence, all over the world,” explains Christian Haslinger, senior attending physician at the USZ Department of Obstetrics. This could be because of the higher average age of women giving birth, or an increase in caesarean sections. But as Haslinger explains, it’s something that can affect any woman.

After delivery, the placenta comes out of the uterus. This results in a wound, but with the contractions of the womb it quickly closes, provided the blood is coagulating normally. In his research Haslinger has discovered that the body has a protein that is a lot more important than previously assumed in terms of blood coagulation after childbirth. Now he’s investigating whether this protein, called “Factor 13,” can be used to stop bleeding more quickly. Factor 13 is already used, but not as the solution of first choice, and probably too late in the process. “Our research could set a new standard in terms of treating this dangerous bleeding,” says Haslinger. The USZ Foundation is able to support his project thanks to a donation from a foundation.

*anonymized/symbolic image