Severe Postpartum Hemorrhage in an Asymptomatic COVID-19 Patient: A Call to Be on Guard

Pradip Kalsar1, Shreya Datta2, Arbabasu Kalsar2

  • 1Department of Gynecology, Mal Superspeciality Hospital, Mal, West Bengal, India.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), the loss of more than 500 mL of blood following childbirth, is a leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide. The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has strained health-care systems globally. Pregnant women are a vulnerable group at a high risk of severe infection with COVID-19 due to the physiological changes in their immune state. Although the infection can be asymptomatic, severe COVID-19 infection is associated with respiratory distress, fever and coagulopathies that can complicate an already hypercoagulable pregnancy state. There is a dearth of existing literature regarding the complications of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy, and much is yet to be known about this rapidly evolving pandemic. In our case report, we received a 23-year-old gravida 2 para 1 woman who was COVID-19 positive but asymptomatic; she presented to the obstetric department with labor pains which progressed to severe postpartum hemorrhage and development of mild respiratory distress.

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