Did you know that excessive bleeding after childbirth is a leading cause of maternal deaths across the globe, even in this day and age? A 2014 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and The Lancet reveals that this number may be as high as 70,000 each year. The National Health Portal of India says that postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) causes at least 30 per cent of maternal deaths in the country. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) also concurs that PPH is a major cause of maternal mortality in India.
With such compelling data about what claims the lives of new mothers in India and the world, the focus of the global healthcare system has been on developing lifesaving drugs that can prevent these unfortunate deaths. One such development has recently been made available across healthcare facilities in India, making Indian women the first in the world to receive heat-stable carbetocin.
The first dose of this lifesaving drug was administered by Dr Yeshita V Pujar to a woman named Sarika, who delivered her son in Belgavi, Karnataka.
Dr Yeshita V Pujar, with Sarika, her husband and their newborn son. Image courtesy: Twitter/NewsFromBW
Carbetocin is a drug that has been globally preferred as the first choice for preventing excessive bleeding after childbirth. However, this lifesaving drug previously had to be stored and transported in refrigerators maintaining a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius to make the drug effective—a feat that is often difficult in low- and lower-middle income countries which have hot climates and unpredictable power sources. As a result, in countries like India, stores of carbetocin were often getting wasted, and women in need could not always get access to this lifesaving drug.
After almost a decade of collaborations—and the publication of the WHO’s Carbetocin Haemorrhage Prevention (CHAMPION) trials in 2018—Ferring Pharmaceuticals has released the first heat-stable carbetocin across India in order to facilitate the prevention of PPH after both vaginal and caesarean section births in the country. Carbetocin Ferring, because of its heat-stable formulation, is much easier to store, transport and use effectively in India.
“Today is an unforgettable milestone for maternal health in India,” Dr Shivaprasad Goudar, professor of physiology at JN Medical College and principal investigator for the CHAMPION clinical trial in India, told India Business Wire. “Every five minutes, a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth across India, and excessive bleeding after childbirth is responsible for 30 per cent of these deaths. It is truly traumatic to see a mother die due to a preventable cause, and the impact this has on the family goes beyond the initial loss. Because this new formulation is not dependent on being stored or transported in refrigerators, it is a real step forward to ensuring women, especially in remote areas, can access high quality maternity care. The last few months have been an incredibly challenging time for India as we tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, but it remains vital to prioritise maternal health to ensure the safety of expectant mothers at risk of excessive bleeding after childbirth.”