Janet Ogundepo Consultant obstetricians and gynaecologists have given reasons why the placenta must be out 15 minutes after vaginal delivery. The maternal health experts explained that women who were unable to deliver the placenta, also known as afterbirth, 15 to 30 minutes after vaginal delivery, were at risk of bleeding and possible death if there were no urgent medical interventions. The physicians noted that the condition called retained placenta was one of the causes of postpartum haemorrhage, which was the most common cause of maternal mortality in Nigeria and Africa.
According to the World Health Organisation, bleeding after delivery is the leading cause of MMR in low-income countries and the primary cause of about one-quarter of all maternal deaths globally. PUNCH Healthwise reports that Nigeria has 512 maternal mortality per 100,000 live births. In October, the World Bank reported that Nigeria’s MMR was among the highest in the world and represented 20 per cent of the global burden.
In exclusive interviews with PUNCH Healthwise, the gynaecologists further stated that women who had undergone fibroid removal surgery, dilation and evacuation and previous caesarean sections, were at risk of retained placenta. The obstetricians emphasised that retained placenta was preventable through the active management of the third stage of labour, which is the delivery of the placenta. According to the Mayo Clinic, a placenta is an organ formed in the uterus during pregnancy and co.
