Following yesterday’s inaugural World Postpartum Haemorrhage Day, I welcome the historic World Health Organization, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Consolidated Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Postpartum Haemorrhage and the declaration of 5 October as World Postpartum Haemorrhage Day with UNICEF and UNFPA, announced during the President’s Session at the XXV FIGO World Congress in Cape Town.

Representing the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and the Wellbeing Africa Institute for Research and Development (WAIRD), Zelia Bukhari, Director of Global Health Policy and Advocacy at The Toyin Saraki Global Policy & Philanthropy Office, joined global leaders and partners in advancing the shared commitment to end preventable maternal deaths from Postpartum Haemorrhage

Chaired by Professor Anne-Beatrice Kihara, President of FIGO, and featuring Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, Chief Midwife of the ICM, and Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research and Head of HRP at WHO, the session highlighted a unified global resolve to translate evidence into action.

The new WHO–FIGO–ICM Guidelines integrate 51 evidence-based recommendations on prevention, diagnosis, management and care. Drawn from the largest meta-analysis of maternal health data to date, covering more than 300,000 women across 23 countries, the guidelines redefine diagnostic thresholds and standardise early interventions through the MOTIVE bundle of uterine massage, oxytocics, tranexamic acid, intravenous fluids, examination and escalation of care.

The Wellbeing Foundation Africa, through its Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care and maternal health programming, will advance the application of these guidelines across Sub-Saharan Africa, strengthening systems of care and advancing the ultimate global goal of eliminating preventable maternal mortality by 2030.