The occurrence of abruptio placentae has been associated
with an increased risk of maternal and foetal
morbidity and mortality in previous studies [1, 3, 6, 22].
In line with our study, women with abruptio placentae
had 12-fold higher risk of postpartum haemorrhage as
compared to women in the comparison group. Similarly,
Sarwar and colleagues in Pakistan [10], reported that
22.2 % of the abruptio placentae patients experienced
severe postpartum haemorrhage as a result of uterine
atony, coagulation failure, or puerperal sepsis. However, it
is worth noting that the diagnosis of abruptio placentae is
subject to misclassification and is recorded with knowledge
of the outcome of pregnancy. Therefore, pregnancy
with severe haemorrhage may be more likely to
be recorded as abruptio placentae if the baby dies. This
in part could be a possible explanation for increased
risk of postpartum haemorrhage attributed to abruptio
placentae in our study.