Fetal Macrosomia and Postpartum Hemorrhage in Latin American and Caribbean Region: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objective To determine the association between fetal macrosomia (FM) and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) women. Data Sources Studies evaluating the association between FM and PPH (≥ 500 ml) and severe PPH (≥ 1,000 ml) until November 4, 2021, indexed in CINHAL, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, LILACS, and SciELO. Selection of Studies Inclusion criteria were cohort and case-control studies that provided the number of PPH and FM cases. Exclusion criteria were studies lacking information about the number of cases, with a population of women who were not from LAC; published in a language other than English, Spanish, or Portuguese, and with a different design. Data Collection Data extraction was performed independently by two authors, and discrepancies were resolved with a third author. Data regarding FM and PPH cases were retrieved. Data Synthesis Of the 1,044 articles evaluated, 5 studies were included, from 6 different countries: Argentina and Uruguay (multi-country), West Indies, Antigua and Barbuda, French Guyana, and Suriname. The pooled odds ratio (OR) for FM and PPH in the meta-analysis (five studies) was 2.10 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.79–2.47; I (2) : 0%), with estimates within this 95% CI in the sensitivity analysis. The combined OR for severe PPH (3 studies) was 1.61 (95% CI: 0.40–6.48; I (2) : 91.89%), showing high heterogeneity. Conclusion There was a positive association between FM and PPH in the LAC, increasing the risk of the presence of this event 2-fold. The high heterogeneity of the studies that measured severe PPH does not allow drawing conclusions about the estimates obtained.