Covidien launches pregnancy-related blood clot awareness campaign

Covidien has launched a new campaign called 1 in 1,000, which aims to educate women on the health risk posed by pregnancy-related blood clots.

The education and prevention programme will target healthcare professionals and empower them to take action against venous thromboembolism (VTE), encompassing guidelines and materials on how to inform patients of this danger.

Blood clots are one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in the developed world, with the name of the campaign referring to the number of women who are likely to experience a potentially life-threatening blood clot during pregnancy, delivery or postpartum.

Stacy Enxing Seng, president for vascular therapies at Covidien, said: "Research shows that pregnant women are at four to five times greater risk for developing a potentially life-threatening VTE than non-pregnant women. Our goal with this campaign is to help prevent these occurrences."

This comes after the company announced last week that it has completed the acquisition of Oridion Systems, a developer of medical technology based in Jerusalem.