Objective measurement

This tool allows health workers to accurately measure postpartum blood loss, enabling early detection of postpartum hemorrhage and guiding timely, appropriate treatment.

Easy to use

The drape is a simple tool that requires minimal training, making it suitable for use at all levels of care.

Affordable

A low-cost innovation that can be widely implemented in low-resource settings, helping improve access to better maternal care.

Improves maternal survival

Enables timely treatment of postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal death worldwide.

Up to half of all women who experience severe bleeding after childbirth – known as postpartum hemorrhage – are identified too late or not at all, leading to life-threatening delays in treatment.  

The calibrated drape is a simple but powerful tool: a plastic sheet that hangs off the end of the delivery table and collects and measures blood in a clear pouch at its base. By enabling rapid, objective assessment of blood loss, the drape helps healthcare workers quickly identify postpartum hemorrhage and act fast with life-saving treatment. 

Early detection is critical to saving lives, and this tool provides a reliable way to assess blood loss, improving outcomes for mothers everywhere. 

Unitaid is supporting the introduction and scale-up of the calibrated drape as part of a broader strategy to improve maternal health. Through partnerships with countries and implementing partners, we are helping integrate this innovation into routine care, ensuring health workers are trained to use it effectively and that women everywhere benefit from faster, more accurate diagnosis and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage. 

Related projects
Tools to prevent maternal mortality
View project
Related news
Unitaid supports uptake of objective blood loss measurement devices to advance lifesaving care for postpartum hemorrhage in resource-limited settings
Learn more