Study design
A prospective, randomized, case control study was performed in the maternity ward of the Women’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine from March 2019 to April 2019. In brief, 60 singleton pregnant women with spontaneous labor at 37–41 weeks without maternal complications were randomly divided into the experimental or the control group.
The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Women’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (approval no. 20160095). All patients provided written informed consent, and the study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. This study adheres to CONSORT guidelines.
Patients and eligibility
The criteria for inclusion were as follows: an age of 18–35 years; a gestational age of 37–41 weeks; single birth; cephalic presentation; no complications during pregnancy; and a willingness to participate in this study. The exclusion criteria were as follows: a history of bleeding-related disorders (i.e., primary coagulopathy or blood-clotting disorders); fetal distress; third-degree (or above) serious perineal lacerations; postpartum complications, except postpartum hemorrhage; a history of sexually transmitted diseases or infectious diseases; and a history of vaginal inflammatory diseases.
Randomization and Intervention
When pregnant women admission to the delivery room, midwives assessed whether they were eligible to participate in the trial by checking that the inclusion criteria were met. To guarantee that the allocation to groups remained concealed until women were admitted to the study.
Simple randomization was used to allocate study participants. Opaque, sealed and consecutively numbered envelopes containing randomization assignment were randomly mixed and placed in a box. Each envelope contained a data collection sheet. When the woman was admitted in active labor, the midwife asked whether the woman was still willing to participate and if so, drew an envelope in strict number succession. The randomization was 1:1, and the preparation of the envelopes containing the information were carried out by a researcher who was not directly involved with the study.
For the experimental group, a new TSLCB was used to collect blood and amniotic fluid separately, and to keep the delivery area sterile. The amount of blood was subsequently measured. For the control group, visual estimation and traditional plastic blood-collecting consumables with volume markings (maximum volume, 500 mL) were used. In both groups, gauze and nursing pads used within 24 h of delivery were also weighed, and the total blood loss was determined as follows: volume (mL) = weight (g)/1.05. To ensure the authenticity and reliability of the data, postpartum blood loss was observed, evaluated, and recorded by the same midwives (FW, XFW, YPT, and SWS). The trial seems to be terminated when the pregnant women occurred severe obstetric complications such as amniotic fluid embolism, disseminated intravascular coagulation, uterine rupture, and so on.
Postpartum blood loss measurement techniques
Based on the common delivery positions, such as lithotomy, sitting, and lateral positions, we designed a new TSLCB to measure the amount of postpartum blood loss for vaginal delivery. The design of the TSLCB is shown in Figure 1. Before delivery, we placed hip pads under the woman’s buttocks, covered the leg pads at her right and left thighs, and then taped and fixed the TSLCB. We adjusted the position of the liquid collection bag to ensure that the opening of the bag was under the vaginal orifice (Fig. 2a). In cases of perineotomy, blood from the wound, which is often unaccounted for, was collected in the inner bag before childbirth, and the amount of blood was carefully measured. Amniotic fluid was collected in the inner bag from the time of the birth of the fetus to the delivery of the placenta (Fig. 2b). Lastly, we removed the inner bag (Fig. 2c) and used the outer bag to collect and measure the postpartum blood loss until active bleeding stopped (Fig. 2d).
Data collection
All patients completed the demographic and obstetric questionnaire on the day of admission. A computerized obstetric database was also used. Data on a range of demographic characteristics and neonatal outcomes were collected. For both groups, blood samples were collected on the day of admission and 24 h after delivery.
Primary outcomes
The primary outcomes were heart rate and systolic blood pressure, as well as the volume of amniotic fluid and the amount of postpartum blood loss, at delivery and within 24 h of delivery. The hemoglobin level, red blood cell count, hematocrit level, platelet count, and D-dimer level of patients before delivery and within 24 h of delivery were separately assessed.
Statistical analysis
All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 21.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago IL, USA). Descriptive analyses were carried out by calculating the frequencies and percentages for categorical variables; the means ± standard deviation for continuous variables, if normally distributed; or the medians (ranges), if not normally distributed. Student’s t-test, chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare data between the groups. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the association between the measured postpartum blood loss and the changes in hemoglobin level, red blood cell count, hematocrit level, platelet count, D-dimer level, and shock index of patients. The correlation coefficient was reported using Pearson’s correlation r and p values. All statistical tests were two-sided, and p-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant.