Reminder Systems for Self Uterine Massage in the Prevention of Postpartum Blood Loss.

BACKGROUND Uterine massage may significantly reduce post partum blood loss and could be patient-driven. OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of an alarm reminder system for self uterine massage in the prevention of post partum blood loss. DESIGN A random controlled trial. SETTING Meru District Hospital, Kenya. SUBJECTS One hundred and twenty seven (127) women were randomly assigned to a 15 minute alarm reminder system (71) and non-alarm (56) control arm during the fourth stage of labour. RESULTS Uterine massage compliance was better in the alarm group compared to the non-alarm group (Average massage of seven and two in two hours respectively P-value <0.0001), however the difference in blood loss was not significant 45.6 ml (95% CI 43-46) vs 47.1 ml (95% CI 43-52)ml p-value 0.892. CONCLUSION Uterine massage compliance is remarkably increased by the use of an alarm reminder.