Professor Adam Devall from the University of Birmingham and an author of the study said: “We are delighted that E-MOTIVE has received recognition from the Times Higher Education awards, demonstrating the high calibre of research undertaken at the University of Birmingham.
“Childbirth-related bleeding is a major risk to life for women around the world, affecting an estimated 24 million women each year. E-MOTIVE is a powerful toolkit that is already being employed globally to dramatically reduce the numbers of women dying from excessive bleeding during childbirth.
“Continued international collaboration could see EMOTIVE prevent up to 20,000 maternal deaths a year, marking a revolution in maternal care.”
Following a landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the WHO has convened a group to draft its first official guidelines on bundled PPH care. It stated that bundled treatments could be provided for less than $1 per package – making them cheap enough to scale in low-income countries.
Four countries have now incorporated E-MOTIVE into their national clinical guidelines, with WHO updating its road map for addressing PPH. The Gates Foundation, which funded the trial, has pledged to invest a further $500 million (£375 million) into the treatments and further research as a result of its success.
Professor Arri Coomarasamy, Honorary Professor at the University of Birmingham who led the E-MOTIVE trial said: “E-MOTIVE has the power to radically improve women’s chances of surviving childbirth globally, helping them get the treatment they need when they need it.
“Time is of the essence when responding to postpartum bleeding, so interventions that eliminate delays in diagnosis or treatment should be gamechangers for maternal health.”
The award-winning research programme is part of the University of Birmingham’s work to end preventable death and illness in mothers affected by postpartum haemorrhage, miscarriage and other pregnancy-related conditions around the globe.
The University is leading the way in women’s health research by championing the need to test safe and effect medicine use during pregnancy and breastfeeding, including jointly leading Europe’s largest miscarriage research centre – the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research.
The breadth of research expertise extends to other women’s health priorities, including ovarian cancer, where research has been instrumental in changing National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidelines regarding surgical approach.
The University of Birmingham was also shortlisted for two other Times Higher Education Awards, for International Collaboration of the Year for the development of an English-Ukrainian Legal Dictionary in collaboration with Ivan Franko National University of Lviv and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine; and Outstanding Marketing/Communications Team of the Year for work on the new University brand.
