• J O Sotunsa, A A Adeniyi, J O Imaralu, B Fawole, O Adegbola, C O Aimakhu, A S Adeyemi, K Hunyinbo, O A Dada, O O Adetoro, and O T Oladapo.
• Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Benjamin Carson (Snr) School of Medicine, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria.
• BJOG. 2019 Jun 1; 126 Suppl 3: 19-25.

ObjectiveTo investigate the burden and health service events surrounding severe maternal outcomes (SMO) related to life-threatening postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) in Nigerian public tertiary hospitals.DesignSecondary analysis of a nationwide cross-sectional study.SettingForty-two tertiary hospitals.PopulationWomen admitted for pregnancy, childbirth or puerperal complications.MethodsAll cases of SMO [maternal near miss (MNM) or maternal death (MD)] due to PPH were prospectively identified using WHO criteria over a 1-year period.Main Outcome MeasuresIncidence of SMO, health service events, case fatality rate (CFR) and mortality index (MI: % of death/SMO).ResultsPostpartum haemorrhage occurred in 2087 (2.2%) of the 94 835 deliveries recorded during the study period. A total of 354 (0.3%) women had an SMO (103 MD; 251 MNM). It was the most frequent obstetric haemorrhagic complication across hospitals. PPH had the highest maternal mortality ratio (112/100 000 live births) and the recorded MI (29.1%) and CFR (4.9%) were second only to that of ruptured uterus. About 83% of women with SMO were admitted in a critical condition with over 50% being referred. MD was more likely when PPH led to neurological (80.8%), renal (73.5%) or respiratory (58.7%) organ dysfunction. Although the timing of life-saving interventions was not statistically different between the cases of MD and MNM, close to one-quarter of women who died received critical intervention at least 4 hours after diagnosis of life-threatening PPH.ConclusionsPostpartum haemorrhage was a significant contributor to obstetric haemorrhage and SMO in Nigerian hospitals. Emergency obstetric services should be enhanced at the lower levels of healthcare delivery to reduce avoidable deaths from PPH.FundingThe original research that generated the data for this secondary analysis, and the publication of this secondary analysis, was funded by the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), a cosponsored programme executed by the World Health Organization. We have no other funding issue to declare for our study.Tweetable AbstractOne hundred and three maternal deaths and 251 near-misses resulted from PPH in 42 Nigerian tertiary facilities in 1 year.© 2019 World Health Organization; licensed by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

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