Every minute counts: The fight against Postpartum Haemorrhage

Thousands of Participants in the 2026 End Postpartum Hemorrhage Run, themed Run for Her, held at Ulinzi Sports Complex, Nairobi, on September 27, 2026. [Benard Orwongo Standard]

As experts race against time to save mothers from post-partum haemorrhage (PPH), Joseph Wanyonyi is still grappling with the loss of his wife. He vividly recalls the ordeal of September 9, 2025, when he eagerly prepared to welcome his wife and newborn.

On that fateful day, he walked his wife, Phylis Wanjiru, to a private hospital, where she was wheeled into the theatre for delivery. Moments later, the couple's joy was complete when Wanjiru safely delivered their fifth child through a Caesarean Section (CS).

They cuddled the newborn in celebration, but the happiness was short-lived. Soon after delivery, Wanjiru began to experience severe internal bleeding. Unfortunately, the hospital did not have blood in stock to transfuse her. For approximately seven hours, she bled.

Wanjiru was eventually referred to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) for urgent management and transfusion. At KNH, doctors immediately transfused her with four pints of blood and rushed her to theatre for re-exploration, a second surgery to stop the bleeding. She would receive an extra pint during surgery.

Though the surgery was a success, doctors said she was developing heart failure because of low blood levels. Wanyonyi quickly turned to his X Space to mobilise for blood, but as friends moved to save his wife's life, she was pronounced dead.

"Doctors told me my wife urgently needed more blood," Wanyonyi recalls. "I hurriedly went on my X Space to mobilise donors, and as friends responded to the call, I received heartbreaking news: 'My wife had died.'"

Wanyonyi's world shattered. His case is not isolated. Each day, at least 15 to 21 mothers die in Kenya during birth, with PPH remaining one of the leading causes of maternal deaths in the country.

To prevent these deaths, researchers, health stakeholders and the Ministry of Health are raising awareness on PPH and mobilising blood for transfusion when bleeding occurs.

Kenya continues to lose mothers to preventable complications during pregnancy and childbirth, with PPH among the leading causes of maternal deaths.

Head of Reproductive Health Dr Edward Serem says Kenya records about 1.2 million pregnancies every year, with at least 1,500 women dying from pregnancy and childbirth-related complications.

PPH remains a major contributor, making prevention, early detection and timely intervention critical in reducing maternal deaths. Ironically, Serem says, many maternal deaths occur inside health facilities.

"It is worrying that most maternal deaths are reported in hospitals, because of lack of knowledge and delays in referrals," he says.

The warning comes as researchers, health stakeholders and the Ministry of Health intensify efforts to prevent women from dying from excessive bleeding after childbirth.

During the Run for Her campaign to end PPH, maternal health experts said the fight must begin long before a woman enters the delivery room.

Prof Anne Beatrice Kihara, an expert in maternal health and President of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), says greater attention must be given to preconception care.

This means ensuring women are healthy before pregnancy, planning pregnancies and addressing conditions such as infections, poor nutrition and anaemia.

"How many women get ANC care? How many have planned pregnancies?" she poses.

Kihara says illnesses affecting the kidneys, poor water and sanitation, infections and conditions such as dysentery can leave women vulnerable to anaemia, increasing the risks they face during pregnancy and childbirth.

She says women should ideally have about 24 months between pregnancies to give the body time to recover.

"As a nation, we need to think about preconception care," she says, calling for greater emphasis on services before pregnancy and during antenatal care.

But preparing women for pregnancy is only one part of the solution. Kihara says women and their families also need to understand danger signs and know when to seek urgent medical attention.

"You cannot do what you don't know," says Prof Kihara.

Families should also prepare for emergencies while expecting, including considering their health insurance coverage and setting aside money for emergencies.

"Individual and emergency preparedness becomes critical," she adds.

Once a woman reaches a health facility, however, the health system must be ready to respond. Kihara says interventions for PPH have been reviewed, including measures to ensure essential medicines are available and health workers are prepared to manage emergencies.

Community Health Promoters (CHPs), she emphasises, are an important link between households and the formal health system.

"The CHP forms a great army that can link and refer patients to the system," she says. CHPs visit households, identifying pregnant women and referring them for Antenatal Clinic  (ANC).

However, Kihara says providers should regularly sharpen their skills and be prepared for emergencies instead of waiting until a crisis occurs to test their ability to respond.

For End PPH project lead Prof Moses Obimbo, blood availability is another critical piece of the puzzle. The Run for Her campaign was held in Nairobi and 26 other counties with high indicators of maternal deaths, as part of a wider initiative conducted across several countries.

"We are all in solidarity for mothers who are dying every year because of excessive bleeding after childbirth," says Obimbo.

"We lose about 3,000 women because of this bleeding. This number is so disturbing," he adds. Blood donation must become a regular public health responsibility.

The End PPH initiative runs a roaming blood bank that links donors with hospitals and communities to mobilise and distribute blood to mothers who need emergency transfusions.

"Out of 10 women who died because of PPH, four of them died because they lacked blood," adds Prof Obimbo.

The initiative targeted more than 2,000 units of blood during the campaign, which will be distributed to hospitals.

Beyond blood, Obimbo says the country must address gaps in knowledge among both communities and healthcare workers.

The initiative has established a PPH School to educate people about postpartum haemorrhage, anaemia and nutrition, while also exploring technologies such as virtual reality, gamification and telepresence mentorship to strengthen health workers' skills.

"We believe by using and adopting these new technologies, it will inspire the practitioners to always be continuously prepared for any emergencies so that we don't have to wait for an emergency for us to respond," he says.

Serem says the government is also implementing measures under the Every Woman, Every Newborn, Everywhere (EWENE) initiative to reduce maternal and newborn deaths.

These include increasing the number of health workers, improving infrastructure and equipment, expanding antenatal care and encouraging women to deliver in health facilities under the care of skilled providers.

At community level, more than 107,000 CHPs have been deployed to link households with the health system.

The government is also strengthening data collection through the Digital Health Administration, with CHPs using tablets and community health systems being connected nationally.

Better data, Serem says, will help identify where maternal deaths occur and the factors driving them.

But he adds that challenges remain. "Some are far away. The distance can be a challenge, and information itself," he says.

He adds that communities need better information on danger signs during pregnancy, childbirth and after delivery. And when the emergency comes, blood must be available.

Serem says the government has allocated Sh1 billion to strengthen blood availability in the country, with the aim of ensuring women receive timely transfusions.