Haematological Disorders Responsible for Maternal Bleeding in Late Pregnancy

Abstract

Bleeding in late pregnancy can be due to a number of inherited or acquired disorders involving (1) integrity of the blood vessels, (2) platelet number or function, or (3) the coagulation cascade (Table 1). Though uncommon, vonWillebrand's disease is a good example of last trimester bleeding caused by a haemotological disorder. vonWillebrand's disease is an inherited coagulopathy which does manifest itself in females and which involves all three phases-tissue, platelet and procoagulant.