Challenges Faced By Health Workers In Management Of Postpartum Haemorrhage On Maternity Ward Kisoro District Hospital, Kisoro District.

The researcher aimed at identifying the challenges faced by health workers in management of
postpartum hemorrhage on maternity ward Kisoro district hospital, Kisoro district to establish
recommendations and possible solutions in order to reduce maternal deaths due to postpartum
haemorrhage.
A descriptive cross sectional study design was used which included 30 health workers (doctors
and midwives) on maternity ward that were selected using purposive sampling method. Data was
collected using pre-tested semi structured questionnaires for the health worker.
Data analysis was done using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version16.0 and
presented in form of tables and figures using Microsoft excel version 2010.
It was found out that only 30% of the mothers who experience postpartum haemorrhage receive
very good care from health workers and all (100%) the health workers expressed that there is a
need for continuous medical education about management of postpartum haemorrhage.
Furthermore, it was established that the major health worker related challenges faced during
management of postpartum haemorrhage include heavy work load on ward, lack of adequate
equipment and drugs to use, inadequate knowledge on management of postpartum haemorrhage
whereas the common institutional related challenges faced by health workers in management of
postpartum haemorrhage include lack of blood in the hospital blood bank, low staffing on ward,
inadequate ambulance vehicle for transfer of mothers and drug stock outs.
It should be noticed that more mothers have continued to die because of postpartum haemorrhage
and others end up with complication such as anaemia. Therefore, there is a need for government
of Uganda (ministry of health) to increase on staffing in hospital so that health workers are not
overwhelmed by work overload on ward.
In addition, the hospital management should always emphasize and conduct continuous medical
education among the health workers on maternity ward to equip them with updated knowledge
and skills of managing postpartum haemorrhage.
There should always be prior procurement of blood for transfusion to avoid stockouts in blood
bank
The health workers on maternity ward are encouraged to always be flexible in management and
do timely referral of the mothers who get postpartum haemorrhage to save their life.