Effectiveness of a training workshop in improving the accuracy of visual estimation of blood loss at delivery

Objectives: To explore the effectiveness of training healthcare workers in improving visual estimation of blood loss at delivery with evidence from a low resource setting. Methods: A training programme customized with local instruments used at childbirth was conducted at De Zoysa Hospital for Women in year 2019 for all categories of healthcare workers involved with obstetric care. Capacity of healthcare workers to accurately estimate blood loss was assessed before and after the training programme using simulated case scenarios with known volumes of blood. Statistical significance of the difference in pre- and posttraining scores were evaluated using related samples Wilcoxon Signed Ranked Test and the association between scores and category of healthcare workers, place of work, and duration of work experience were evaluated using independent samples median test and Spearman correlation. Results: This programme included voluntary participation of 81 healthcare workers. Median (IQR) of pre-training and post-training scores were 0.00 (0.00-20.00) and 40.00 (40.00-80.00), respectively. The post-training improvement was statistically significant across all healthcare workers categories irrespective of place of work and their work experience. Conclusions: Short term improvement in accuracy of visual estimation of blood loss by healthcare workers involved in obstetric care can be achieved by customized training irrespective of their place of work and work experience. Further research is needed to assess long term effects of training and the impact on patient outcomes in real clinical settings.