Questions about Postpartum Hemorrhaging

[lupastudent]

Hi everyone!
I'm a university student currently working on a project about postpartum hemorrhaging (PPH) and researching different devices used to stop bleeding during PPH. The only marketed device I've found so far is the Bakri Balloon, and I was wondering what kind of experiences (good or bad) people have had with using the device. Also, has anyone thought of any other non-surgical designs/ways that could stop the bleeding, possibly using something like a vacuum system to contract the uterus or something similar to a TENS machine to induce contractions?
Thank you!

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[pizzicarella]

Hi everyone!
I'm a university student currently working on a project about postpartum hemorrhaging (PPH) and researching different devices used to stop bleeding during PPH. The only marketed device I've found so far is the Bakri Balloon, and I was wondering what kind of experiences (good or bad) people have had with using the device. Also, has anyone thought of any other non-surgical designs/ways that could stop the bleeding, possibly using something like a vacuum system to contract the uterus or something similar to a TENS machine to induce contractions?
Thank you!

I'm late on this one, but thought I'd jump in - I'm a nurse/midwife, and have seen bakri balloons in practice plenty of times and don't really have anything negative to say about them - they are effective, easy to use, and are readily available. There are other similar devices, and a push to making more cost effective types available in lower-income countries (look into condom-balloon catheters). There have been a handful of (terrifying!) occassions in my practice where it was very evident that surgical treatment was necessitated and we rush off to theatre with more hastily done uterine and vaginal packing, or somebody up on the bed providing bimanual compression. In answer to the rest of your question: non-surgical ways to control PPH rely on correcting the cause, and this can be physically (uterine massage to cause contraction; tamponade, like the bakri balloon; or compression of the arteries supplying the uterus ie aorto-caval compression), or it can be using medications (ie uterotonic drugs to increase contractions and uterine tone; or drugs to correct coagulopathies). Current management of PPH in high income countries is very good, as we have excellent access to life saving medication and we are more easily able to identify things like trauma or abnormally adhered placentas.
I think you may want to look more into the physiology of PPH and into current treatment to think of ways that it could be more effectively treated - and I think it would be more interesting, perhaps, if you focussed on making existing techniques more accessible in lower income countries.