By The PPH Foundation

As the world marks Valentine’s Day, a celebration often associated with love, care, and connection, maternal health advocates are calling for a broader understanding of what love truly means for women and families. Beyond flowers and messages of affection, love must also be expressed through systems and actions that protect women during one of the most critical moments of their lives, childbirth.

Postpartum haemorrhage remains one of the leading causes of maternal deaths globally, responsible for nearly a quarter of all maternal fatalities. Despite being largely preventable, thousands of women continue to die each year due to delays in accessing care, shortages of blood and essential supplies, and overstretched health systems. These risks are increasingly compounded by environmental and climate-related challenges.

Extreme weather events such as floods and droughts disrupt transport networks, isolate communities, and weaken already fragile health systems. In many rural and humanitarian settings, poor road infrastructure, long distances to health facilities, and climate-induced displacement delay timely referral and emergency obstetric care. When postpartum haemorrhage strikes, such delays can be fatal.

Health experts note that climate stressors also affect blood availability, staffing, and supply chains, all of which are critical in managing obstetric emergencies. As health systems grapple with these pressures, women bear the greatest burden, particularly those living in low-resource and climate-vulnerable settings.

This Valentine’s Day, the End Postpartum Haemorrhage Initiative is urging governments, partners, and communities to view maternal survival as an expression of love and shared responsibility. Strengthening resilient health systems, investing in skilled birth attendants, ensuring reliable blood supplies, and improving emergency preparedness are not just technical interventions, they are acts of care that safeguard families and future generations.

When mothers survive childbirth, children thrive, families remain whole, and communities grow stronger. Ending postpartum haemorrhage is not only a public health priority, it is love in action.

Sources
World Health Organization, Maternal mortality and postpartum haemorrhage
UNICEF, Maternal and newborn health reports
The Lancet, Maternal health and climate change
FIGO, Prevention and management of postpartum haemorrhage

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