Improving risk prediction for
postpartum hemorrhage
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For health care systems and payers focused on improving maternal outcomes and health equity, Vasowatch offers a novel Labor and Delivery technology that supports continuous monitoring of a mother's risk for postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal death and complications. Unlike expert-based risk assessments administered upon admission, we offer four times improved sensitivity and real time vigilance during this vulnerable time.
Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of maternal mortality
Maternal mortality in the US is unacceptably high, the worst in the developed world at an average of 33 deaths per 100K births and rising. Health inequities are growing; black mothers die at 3.5 times the rate as white mothers; Native American/Alaskan Indian mothers at 2.5 times. Hispanic maternal mortality rates have jumped 54% in a year.
Source: Elflein, John; Maternal Mortality Rates In The US from 2018 - 2020, by Ethnicity; May 10, 20222; statista.com/statistics/1240107/us-maternal-mortality-rates-by-ethnicity/
11% of these deaths are attributable to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). PPH is the leading cause of maternal death in labor and delivery and up to six days postpartum. PPH is preventable, but can kill a woman in hours if it goes undetected and/or untreated. For every woman who dies, fifty experience morbidities like unplanned hysterectomies, kidney injuries and blood transfusions, extending length of stay and negatively impacting mother-child bonding and patient experience.
Most Frequent Causes of Pregnancy Related Deaths
PPH occurs in 5% of all births globally, 185K in the US alone. An astonishing 40% of patients who experience PPH have no identifiable risk factors. If the care team is not vigilant in detecting and treating a hemorrhage, valuable time is lost. In today’s environment, hospitals are already dealing with staffing shortages, the high rate of clinician burnout and a sicker maternal patient population due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Better risk prediction is an imperative as current detection practices are imperfect. For decades, estimated blood loss has been widely used, despite its propensity to underestimate by 30 to 50%. Vital signs are lagging indicators. Continuous risk assessment for PPH would save lives and avoid complications, improving equity in obstetrics care.
“PPH is an important condition to address and current risk assessment tools are not addressing it adequately.”
Hospital Women’s Services Director, Philadelphia PA
Voice of the Customer
Initial Focus
Improving PPH Risk Prediction
Vasowatch improves PPH risk prediction by
4x
The Joint Commission, the largest accrediting body in the US, has mandated the assessment of hemorrhage risk upon admission. The current standard of care is expert-based survey risk assessment tools developed by maternal health quality organizations. 40% of mothers who go on to experience postpartum hemorrhage, however, are assessed as “low risk” by these assessment tools. As a result, the clinical care team may not be prepared with the necessary supplies, medications, and staff to appropriately intervene as the hemorrhage occurs.
Vasowatch has developed a system to continuously monitor the mother’s PPH risk during labor and delivery. A non-invasive wearable is attached to the mother’s wrist upon admission. A PPG optical skin sensor in the wearable monitors the mother’s capillary blood flow and sends the waveform data continuously to a proprietary algorithm that predicts whether a mother will require clinical intervention for hemorrhage.
A change in the mother's PPG waveform data triggers an alert to the clinical care team an hour ahead of delivery, allowing time to plan for appropriate staffing, medications and other supplies, enabling appropriate and timely interventions. This alert can be delivered via a dashboard, mobile device and/or integrated into the hospital system’s EMR, automating documentation and encouraging care coordination. The wearable device is removed upon discharge to postpartum. The system is adjunctive to clinical care.
