Distribution of blood loss during vaginal delivery and cesarean section

Objectives.-To describe the distribution of the volume of blood loss during vaginal and cesarean deliveries among women who delivered after 24 weeks of gestation. Materials and methods.-A descriptive study of the distribution of blood loss by delivery route and for all patients after 24 weeks of gestation over a period of two years in a type III maternity. Patient and delivery characteristics were collected and blood loss was measured prospectively based on weighing pads and the-use of a collector bag for vaginal deliveries, a suction cannula for cesareans sections. The following parameters were calculated: the mean (+/- SD), the median, interquartile range (IQR), the 5th and 95th percentile. Results.-Seven thousand nine hundreds and eight patients were included. After vaginal delivery (n = 6134), the mean volume of bleeding was equal to 180.1 mL (+/- 224.7 mL), the median to 100 mL (IQR [100-200]), the 95th percentile to 500 mL [Cl 95% 500-550]. For cesarean sections (n = 1774), the mean volume of bleeding was equal to 557.9 mL (+/- 496.2 mL), the median volume of blood loss to 400 mL (IQR [300-700]), the 95th percentile to 1300 mL [Cl 95% 1200-1500]. Conclusion.-The distribution of blood toss after cesarean was significantly higher than the distribution of blood loss after vaginal delivery. (C) 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.