Haemorrhagia post partum; an implementation study on the evidence-based guideline of the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (NVOG) and the MOET (Managing Obstetric Emergencies and Trauma-course) instructions; the Fluxim study

One step in the development procedure is to evaluate the implementation of the guideline and MOET-instructions in the current care. Therefore measurement of the actual care will be performed in a representative sample of 20 hospitals. This will be done by prospective observation of the third stage of labour of 320 women with a high risk of PPH using quality indicators extracted from the NVOG guideline and MOET instructions. In the next step barriers and facilitators for guideline adherence will be analyzed by performance of semi structured interviews with 30 professionals and 10 patients, followed by a questionnaire study among all Dutch gynaecologists and midwives to quantify the barriers mentioned. Based on the outcomes, a tailored strategy to implement the NVOG guideline and MOET-instructions will be developed and tested in a feasibility study in 4 hospitals, including effect-, process- and cost evaluation.This study will provide insight into current Dutch practice, in particular to what extent the PPH guidelines of the NVOG and the MOET-instructions have been implemented in the actual care, and into the barriers and facilitators regarding guideline adherence. The knowledge of the feasibility study regarding the effects and costs of the tailored strategy and the experiences of the users can be used in countries with a relatively high incidence of PPH.ClinicTrials.gov NCT00928863The major cause of maternal death worldwide is post partum haemorrhage (PPH, blood loss of >1000 cc during and after delivery), with about 146.000 deaths annually [1]. Although this is largely due to deaths in developing countries, even in the Netherlands it is still in the top four of maternal deaths [2]. In this country the reported incidence of PPH is 5% in the secondary care, affecting about 10.000 women annually [3]. In the Lemmon trial (2004-2006), in which a large part of Dutch hospitals participated, all severe maternal morbidity was documented and PPH in absolute number is the maj