Our Campaign
Our Mission
Protect Against Birth Haemorrhage is a national campaign calling for urgent action to improve the recognition and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage across maternity services.
Postpartum haemorrhage, often referred to as PPH, is excessive bleeding after birth. It can happen suddenly, escalate rapidly and leave mothers and families dealing with serious physical and psychological consequences. It impacts 1 in 4 births in England, and cases are increasing. While many cases are managed safely by dedicated maternity teams, care is not always consistent. Too many women still experience avoidable harm, trauma or inadequate support after a major bleed.
Every mother should receive timely, safe and compassionate care, wherever she gives birth.
How you can Help
We are calling on parliamentarians, government officials, NHS leaders, and policymakers to act. To achieve this, PPH must be recognised as a national maternity safety priority. We are calling for it to be addressed through the Government’s Women’s Health Strategy and the work of the independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation Taskforce.
You have an important role to play, too. You can support the campaign by helping to raise awareness of PPH, sharing our message, asking your MP to back action on maternity safety, or adding your voice if you have been affected. By building public, political and clinical support, we can help ensure serious bleeding after birth receives the attention, urgency and action it deserves.
The scale of the problem
Postpartum haemorrhage is one of the most serious complications that can occur after birth. When bleeding is not promptly identified and managed, it can become a medical emergency within minutes.
Research suggests that rates of PPH in the UK have risen by 19% since 2020. Globally, it remains the leading cause of maternal death.
For many women, the impact continues long after the bleeding has stopped. Severe blood loss can lead to emergency treatment, blood transfusions, surgery, admission to higher-level care and a difficult physical recovery. It can also affect bonding, breastfeeding, mental health and confidence around future pregnancies.
Despite this, PPH is still too often seen as an inevitable complication of childbirth, rather than a preventable and manageable safety risk that requires sustained national attention.
Why national action is needed
Maternity teams work under intense pressure, and many provide excellent care in extremely challenging circumstances. But the way PPH is assessed, prevented, escalated and followed up can vary between hospitals and local ICBs.
Some women are identified as high risk early and have clear plans in place for birth. Others are not given enough information about their risk factors, the symptoms to watch for, or what should happen if excessive bleeding occurs. Many people have never heard of PPH until it affects them or someone they love. After a traumatic birth, some women and families also describe feeling frightened, uninformed or left without clear answers.
Stronger national oversight is needed to reduce the current hospital lottery, improve safety and ensure that lessons are learned when serious incidents happen.
Better recognition and treatment
Protect Against Birth Haemorrhage is calling for a national focus on reducing the risk of PPH, ensuring rapid response, proper care and appropriate treatments are the norm, not the exception.
For too long, there has been underinvestment in women’s health and maternity services. Whilst steps are being taken to change this, PPH remains too often overlooked in national conversations around women’s health and maternity safety.
There is now a major opportunity to address the increasing rates of PPH and reduce the risks associated with it. The implementation of the Women’s Health Strategy, the work flowing from the national maternity safety investigation, the expected maternity taskforce and action plan, and the wider focus on investment in women’s health all create a clear moment for Government and NHS leaders to act.
Improving workforce training, adopting innovative health interventions, investing in obstetrics and gynaecology services, and providing access to new treatments will improve outcomes for women and their families.