Impact of inherited bleeding disorders on pregnancy and postpartum hemorrhage.

Inherited bleeding disorders are caused by various genetic defects in the proteins involved in haemostasis. Female patients or carriers are faced with the risk of haemorrhage throughout life. During pregnancy and postpartum, this complication affects the health of either the mother or the baby, or both. This retrospective cohort study was designed to assess the occurrence of obstetric bleeding in the three trimesters of pregnancy, along with primary and secondary postpartum haemorrhage among 100 women with inherited bleeding disorders. A questionnaire was designed in order to collect historical data. The patients were evaluated in three groups: haemophilia carriers, von Willebrand disease (VWD) and rare bleeding disorders. In comparison with normal women, significantly severe bleeding was observed among patients in all of the five stages. VWD patients showed a higher frequency of bleeding in first trimester but the rate of miscarriage was lower. Haemophilia carriers were threatened with bleeding complications during the prenatal period, but they also had the highest frequency of postpartum haemorrhage. Based on our results, vaginal bleeding is a serious threat in all three patient groups, especially during the first trimester of pregnancy and in the postpartum period.