RT Book, Section A1 Antoniewicz, Leah W. A2 Reichman, Eric F. SR Print(0) ID 1159806799 T1 Postpartum Hemorrhage Management T2 Reichman's Emergency Medicine Procedures, 3e YR 2018 FD 2018 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781259861925 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1159806799 RD 2024/03/29 AB Postpartum hemorrhage, or excessive blood loss following delivery, is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. It is traditionally defined as blood loss greater than 500 mL after vaginal delivery and 1000 mL after a cesarean section.1,2 This is impractical because the normal blood loss is believed to be 300 to 600 mL following a vaginal delivery and 900 to 1200 mL following a cesarean section.3,4 Postpartum hemorrhage has also been defined as blood loss that results in a decrease in the hematocrit of greater than 10 points between admission and the postpartum period which corresponds to the 97th percentile of vaginal and 92nd percentile of cesarean deliveries.1,3 A clinically useful definition is excessive bleeding that results in signs and/or symptoms of hypovolemia (e.g., dizziness, hypotension, oliguria, palpitations, syncope, shortness of breath, and tachycardia), which corresponds to a 10% or more loss in total blood volume.4 Postpartum hemorrhage can occur at sites within or external to the genitourinary tract (Table 166-1).