Dr Anne Saxton, a semi-retired midwife who once held the position as senior midwifery manager across the Hunter New England Health District, undertook the research towards a PhD – which she was awarded this week. 

Over the course of a 40 year career in which she oversaw the birth of “tens of thousands” of babies she observed women who breastfed and had skin contact with their baby immediately after birth were less likely to experience PPH.

She also observed an increasing rise in the incidence of PPH throughout her career.

Dr Saxton looked at PPH rates at three Hunter hospitals during the years 2009 and 2010. She used de-identified birth records for the research.

Included was a large tertiary hospital, a suburban hospital and a regional hospital. She did not wish to name the hospitals for this story.  The rates for PPH at the suburban hospital were two per cent, the regional hospital 17 per cent and the tertiary hospital was 24 per cent. 

Dr Saxton concluded that playing a role in rates of PPH were women who had skin-to-skin contact and an opportunity to breastfeed within 30 minutes of birth. 

Breastfeeding and skin contact triggers the release of oxytocin – the ‘love’ hormone –  in the mother which naturally causes her uterus to contract and thus reducing the incidence of bleeding, she said.

“In the smaller (suburban) hospital women received continuity of care,” she said.

“Women and their significant other are followed throughout the pregnancy and birth by the one midwife and a back-up midwife.”

“A woman who goes into a hospital with just routine care gets the midwife who is rostered on.”

The research looked at about 8000 women in Hunter hospitals, after ruling out incidences where mothers could not be with their babies immediately after birth. 

Dr Saxton said the government needed to fund more continuity of care.