Advantages and limitations of using national administrative data on obstetric blood transfusions to estimate the frequency of obstetric hemorrhages

International audience; BACKGROUND: Obstetric hemorrhages are a frequent cause of maternal death all over the world, but are not routinely monitored. Health systems administrative databases could be used for this purpose, but data quality needs to be assessed. OBJECTIVES: Using blood transfusion data recorded in administrative databases to estimate the frequency of obstetric hemorrhages. Research design A population-based study. Subjects Validation sub-sample: all mothers who gave birth in a French region in 2006-07 (35 123 pregnancies). Main study: all mothers who gave birth in France in 2006-07 (1 629 537 pregnancies). METHOD: Linkage and comparison of administrative data on blood transfu…