A new set of Consolidated Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Postpartum Haemorrhage, jointly published by the World Health Organisation, the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, and the International Confederation of Midwives, reinforces the importance of objective measurement of blood loss for all women following birth.
Many women worldwide, particularly in low-resource settings, still experience preventable harm due to the delayed identification of excessive bleeding. The guidelines highlight that early recognition of abnormal blood loss enables prompt treatment and can prevent life-threatening complications.
“Improving the diagnosis of PPH as a core element of routine postpartum care, and ensuring that all women receive timely assessment regardless of setting, are essential to reducing global inequities in maternal health outcomes.” – (WHO/FIGO, 2025)
The new recommendations call for routine, objective measurement of postpartum blood loss to support timely detection and treatment.
Visual estimation — still common in some settings — is “widely recognised as unreliable”, particularly at higher volumes of blood loss.
In many hospitals, clinicians already use quantitative approaches such as weighing swabs or measuring collected blood after birth.
What the new guidance emphasises is the value of systematic, real-time quantification as a standard part of postpartum care — helping teams to recognise excessive bleeding as it occurs, rather than after cumulative assessment.
Recommendation 21 reads:
“For all women giving birth, routine objective measurement of postpartum blood loss is recommended to improve the detection and prompt treatment of postpartum haemorrhage. Methods to objectively quantify blood loss, such as calibrated drapes for women having vaginal birth, can achieve this.”Recommendation 21, (WHO/FIGO/ICM, 2025)
“For all women giving birth, routine objective measurement of postpartum blood loss is recommended to improve the detection and prompt treatment of postpartum haemorrhage. Methods to objectively quantify blood loss, such as calibrated drapes for women having vaginal birth, can achieve this.”
Calibrated blood-collection drapes are highlighted within the guideline as an established method for objectively quantifying blood loss following vaginal birth. They offer a simple, visual means of monitoring ongoing blood loss during the immediate postpartum period — the window when most cases of PPH occur.
The guideline development group reviewed the available evidence and found that calibrated blood-collection drapes provide “more accurate quantification of postpartum blood loss compared to visual estimation.”
They also noted that while other devices, such as trays or jars, are used in some regions, “current evidence does not support the diagnostic accuracy of these alternatives.”
Read the guidelines here →
At Maternity by Kimal, we share the commitment to advancing maternity care through evidence-based innovation.
Our Ammalife Calibrated Drape enables clinicians to monitor postpartum blood loss in real time, providing a clear visual cue to support early recognition and prompt clinical decision-making in line with international recommendations.