This is a summary of several recently published studies on the topic, not a full list of published studies.

I) A placebo-controlled randomised trial was conducted in Pakistan examining the efficacy of Misoprostol when distributed by traditional birth attendants. The use of misoprostol reduced the rate of PPH by 24% without any safety issues. It was thus concluded that it is an effective strategy for unskilled health personnel to distribute and administer Misoprostol.

To read the full trial click here.

II) An observational trial investigating the self-administration of Misoprostol for PPH prevention was conducted in Afghanistan. Community Health Workers distributed the drug to women antenatally so that they could self administer it following childbirth in the community. 92% of women who took Misoprostol stated that they would recommend it to a friend and take it in subsequent pregnancies. Although the study was not intended to assess the efficacy of Misoprostol in PPH prevention, an estimation was made that PPH was 6 times more likely to occur in the control group than in the Misoprostol group; this estimation was made through women's reports of how many cloths were soaked with blood during delivery.

To read the full trial click here.

III) A piece of operational research was conducted in Nepal to investigate the self-administration of Misoprostol by Community Health Workers. The research wanted to determine how feasible it was to distribute Misoprostol to women antenatally so that they could self-administer the tablets immediately postnatally. It was found in the post-intervention survey that 73.2% of the sample of women who had Misoprostol distributed to them took it. It showed the feasibility of wide-scale Misoprostol distribution within communities in low-resource settings.

To read the full trial click here.