Title:Comparison of Postpartum Hemoglobin and Hematocrit Levels In Conventional and Physiological Delivery in Iran: A Quasi-Experimental Study
Volume: 17
Issue: 4
Author(s): Khodayar Oshvandi, Seyedeh Zahra Masoumi, Arezoo Shayan, Seyed Saleh Oliaei, Afshin Mohammadi and Farideh Kazemi*
Affiliation:
- Department of Midwifery, Mother and Child Care Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan,Iran
Keywords:
Childbirth, hemoglobin, hematocrit, pregnant women, confounding variables, blood.
Abstract:
Background: Despite the great importance of controlling and preventing postpartum
hemorrhage, no evidence has been provided to reduce postpartum hemorrhage physiologically compared
to conventional vaginal delivery. While it is claimed that physiological delivery can be better
than conventional delivery, in many ways, there is insufficient available information about the effect
of the delivery method on postpartum hemoglobin and hematocrit levels.
Objective: The current study aimed to compare the postpartum hemoglobin and hematocrit levels in
deliveries carried out with conventional and physiological delivery methods at Fatemieh Hospital of
Hamedan.
Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 400 pregnant women candidates for
physiological delivery and 400 pregnant women for conventional vaginal delivery in 2019. Mothers
in the physiological delivery group were provided with the necessary training. In the conventional
vaginal delivery group, the mother went through the usual procedures upon hospitalization. All
mothers' venous blood samples were analyzed for hemoglobin and hematocrit levels at the time of
hospitalization and six hours after delivery. The significance level was considered at p = 0.05.
Results: The outcomes indicated that by controlling the confounding variables, the mean of hemoglobin
in the physiologic delivery group was significantly higher than conventional vaginal delivery,
11.93 (1.20) and 11.64 (1.20) respectively (P <0.001), but the Cohen's d value of 0.25 indicated a weak
relationship between the mean of hemoglobin level six hours after delivery and the type of delivery.
The results also indicated that by controlling the effect of confounding variables, the mean of hematocrit
in the physiological group was significantly more than conventional vaginal delivery (36.53
(3.33) and 35.50 (3.33) respectively) (p <0.001) but the Cohen's d value of 0.31 indicated a weak
relationship between mean hematocrit 6 hours after delivery and the type of delivery.
Conclusion: The results indicated that physiologic delivery did not show a valuable/considerable or
the expected effect on improving postpartum maternal hemoglobin and hematocrit levels compared
to conventional delivery.
