The Happy Pod: The simple plastic sheet saving lives
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. This is the Happy Pod from the BBC World Service.
I'm Holly Gibbs and in this edition... I haven't seen any intervention that is saving women as much. So it's amazing. The simple plastic sheet that is saving the lives of thousands of women after childbirth.
How is a simple plastic sheet saving women's lives after childbirth?
Also, the friendship spanning six decades and thousands of kilometres. Well, she's just a very special person in my life. I'm very blessed to have her. We don't have the same blood running in our veins, but we are like sisters. It's really special. The fishing group supporting people with cancer.
I'm here in this moment in time and it's just lovely. I get peace and separation from all the doctor's appointments. You just want it to go on forever.
And I can be myself and it's just I can control what I can do. Adapting homes to help people with ADHD. We start with a simple plastic sheet that is saving the lives of tens of thousands of women all over the world. Every year, around 14 million women globally have excessive bleeding after birth and 70,000 die. But researchers found that using a plastic drape to measure blood loss and then giving faster treatments has led to a 60% lower risk of serious complications. In fact, the findings were so extraordinary that the World Health Organisation recommended the new treatment within just six months. I spoke to Dr Hadiza Galadanchi in Nigeria and also to Professor Ari Kumarasamy here in the UK, who were both involved in the research.
As soon as we see that she's lost that amount of blood that is significant, we now immediately give her the bundle treatment. And the bundle treatment is... is the M-O-T-I-V-E. And that's where we have the E motive, which is an intervention.
We needed to demonstrate that using the drape and using the bundled treatment, as Adisa mentioned, would in fact improve the outcomes. So we needed to design and conduct a definitive clinical trial, which found a tremendous reduction in the number of women who were bleeding excessively or having surgery or indeed dying from postpartum hemorrhage. These were all reduced with the emotive intervention.
So Dr. Hadiza, how successful has this been in Nigeria? Very, very successful. In fact, I haven't seen any intervention that is saving women as much as the emotive trial. I've had people saying that from the day they started using the emotive intervention, not a single woman has died due to excessive bleeding. So it's amazing. And apart from saving life, it's even making our labor wards very clean. Definitely health care workers can see the impact because we are saving women.
The recommendation from the World Health Organization and other international bodies supports the use of it throughout the world. So the recommendation isn't restricted to just low-income countries. The need for an objective measurement device like this blood collection drape is needed for every vaginal birth, for every delivery throughout the world.
And for both of you, a personal question. Professor Arie, let's start with you. How does it feel to be working on something that is saving lives and making such a difference to these women?
It's a tremendous feeling. I've been doing clinical trials research for nearly three decades. But to have a trial that produces the findings that emotive trial did, which was a massive reduction in women suffering severe postpartum hemorrhage or dying from it. is not very common. But then to see that research finding being translated into policy and recommendations, and then health ministries and governments and healthcare providers throughout the world taking up the intervention and making it a reality for women is truly a dream come true. So it's a tremendous feeling.
I've worked as a doctor obstetrician in Nigeria for three decades and I've seen so many mothers, so many mothers come. and have excessive bleeding and die in front of me and without having the opportunity to save them. So really, you know, with the findings of the way, you know, the intervention has really or is really saving lives.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:05
2
How is a simple plastic sheet saving women's lives after childbirth?
1:05–10:30
3
What role does the plastic drape play in measuring blood loss?
10:30–18:07
4
How successful has the plastic sheet intervention been in Nigeria?
18:07–28:26
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from Global News Podcast
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