Giving Compass' Take:

• Bethan Hughes reports that WHO guidelines changed to reflect that tranexamic acid can prevent maternal deaths caused by excessive bleeding. 

• How can philanthropists help support access to tranexamic acid?

• Learn about improving maternal mortality rates in developing countries. 

In 2017, a global trial funded by Wellcome showed that tranexamic acid (TXA) can prevent almost one in three maternal deaths caused by severe bleeding if given within three hours of birth.

A study from the WOMAN trial team, which was coordinated by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, shows that even more lives could be saved by giving the drug immediately after severe bleeding is diagnosed.

The evidence, the researchers say, is clear – TXA should be used worldwide as a frontline treatment to help reduce the global burden of deaths from severe bleeding, also known as post-partum haemorrhage.

Each year, more than 100,000 women die from severe bleeding after childbirth. It is the leading global cause of maternal death, and most deaths occur in low and middle-income countries.

Read the full article about averting maternal deaths by Bethan Hughes at Wellcome.