OBJECTIVE: to explore women's and their partners' views of recruitment to emergency trials in severe postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). DESIGN: interview-based qualitative study. In semi-structured in-depth interviews, five recruitment options for a PPH trial in an emergency context were considered. SETTING: interviews were carried out in participants' homes. PARTICIPANTS: nine women who had experienced a severe PPH and six partners. FINDINGS: interviewees rejected three options; decision-making by women prior to delivery, and by partners and legal representatives at the time of the emergency. Preferred options were women making antenatal decisions about trial entry themselves, followed by doctors making decisions at the time of the emergency. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: recruitment options involving women and their partners at the time of an emergency were rejected. Antenatal decision-making raises logistical and ethical considerations for emergency trial teams. Further research is needed to address the possibility of antenatal decisions for emergency trials and to develop and assess supportive post-enrolment recruitment and information strategies which take into account the stressful context of clinical emergencies such as PPH.