Quote:Therapy was not my most pressing need as blood soaked the floor below me. I needed medical care for a condition that I now know is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide. Postpartum hemorrhage, or PPH—defined as severe bleeding that occurs in the 24 hours following delivery or, in the case of secondary postpartum hemorrhage, up to 12 weeks thereafter—is responsible for at least 70,000 maternal deaths a year, according to the World Health Organization.

PPH is particularly fatal in low- and middle-income countries, where it’s behind 20 percent of maternal deaths. Women often require urgent surgical interventions to control the bleeding that can only be performed at well-equipped hospitals; survival often comes with recurrent complications and lifelong reproductive challenges—not to mention psychological trauma.