GP Recommends NO MORE HOMEBIRTHS for me :(

[~Stoked~]

Ok.. a bit of background.. Had my DD in hospital, decided on having DS at home.. Best decision i EVER made. Great experience.. however, had a PPH and was still bleeding 12weeks later (off and on, and not alot). One day i thought i had AF coming but then just lost a blood clot (well more 'tissue' looking than blood). I phoned my m/w and she said if i continued to bleed to go and have an u/s...

Well i stopped bleeding straight after that but then about a week later it started again. I thought it was my period but i thought that i'd better get checked just in case. I had an ultrasound on the Friday and they discovered 'retained products'. I was pretty upset to hear this as they said the only way to get rid of it was to have a D&C. I really didn't want to have it done but didn't really have a choice They wanted me to go to the hospital straight away so i went in on the Sunday. Had D&C, All was ok and i have now stopped bleeding... finally.

I went back to my Dr on the Tuesday just gone for a check up. The pathology results said it was definately placenta tissue that was found. Now for the bad news... The Dr recommended that i don't have another homebirth as the placenta must have been stuck and it is likely it will get stuck in the same place again (something about scar tissue?) and i will probably have another PPH and it could possibly be worse than the 850mls i lost last time. She said it would be too risky for me to be at home and that i should be considered 'High Risk' next time... BOOHOOOOOO!!!

i have just emailed my midwife to tell her the news. I really want to know what her opinion is on the chances of all this happening again.

I feel so sad at the thought of not being able to go thorough that amazing experience again!! Obviously, i will not put myself (or my baby) at risk but i will definately be doing alot of research before i decide against a future homebirth. We will be TTC within the next six months.

Just wanted to get that out!
Thanks for listening x

[Tegam]

Doesnt sound right to me. There are so many things that can be done differently to watch out of PPH and retained products.....

Wait for your MW to respond! I know the feeling of thinking of entering a hospital again to have a baby after a homebirth, just WEIRD! Hope you get it sorted so when you UTD you can just plan your nice homebirth straight away.

Maybe time to find a new GP! LOL

[Mummato2]

I'm sorry to hear about your first HB experience.

Would it be an option for you to still birth at home, but get synto afterwards vs a physiological third stage and if within a short amount of time it looks to be a problem, transfer to hospital?

I can't see why the birth itself would be an issue UNLESS there is risk of a huge bleed within moments of the birth?

ETA - Just remember that GP's aren't OB specialists. Best to leave these decisions to a MW or OB. No MW would put herself in a position to risk a massive PPH if you are at risk, so I would be inclined to follow her lead vs your GP's

[phynna]

I'd wait for your midwife too, GP's to me seem very nervous of anything outside the normal clinical way. Also they seem to like categorising anyone into "high-risk" and putting the fear of god into them LOL!

Synto, increasing your iron intake, can both help, I'm sure your midwife will have lots of ways to manage this. Don't discount your homebirth yet!

[BellyBelly]

Firstly, the AMA does not support homebirth. So expect a biased view.

Secondly, I know of women who have had retained placenta to go on and not have it. I'd also agree with the others and wait to hear from your midwife.

[Alan]

Hi Stoked
Firstly most GP’s would not recommend a homebirth under any circumstances.
All homebirth midwives carry, or should carry Synto to help prevent bleeding if the natural methods don’t work. Just because you had a PPH with your last birth does not mean that you will have a PPH with your next birth. If I was your midwife a PPH was something that I would watch for but not be overly concerned about.

[Traveller]

I know of a woman who had a CS and PPH for her first birth, a HBAC with PPH for her 2nd, and who planned to give birth at home for her 3rd. She had a very pro normal midwife (the same lady who delivered my twins) and whilst she was unhappy about a homebirth given the higher chance of a PPH again, they came to the agreement that she would birth at home and then transfer to hospital for monitoring incase the same situation happened again.

FWIW there was no PPH 3rd time (despite a physiological 3rd stage) but this was a situation everyone was happy with. Could something like that happen with you?

[Schmickers]

My DW has had prolonged bleeding and retained products after all of our births, but never had a PPH. There's no guarantee you will either, and I don't think you'd really fall into a high risk category.

[~Stoked~]

Hello everyone! Thankyou all very much for your supportive words! They mean alot x

Heard back from my midwife..

She basically said the same as you all did! She doesn't see a reason why i couldn't have another homebirth and she will support me 100% when i put in my application for the CMP in the future! She also checked the National Guidelines for Referral and Consultation and according to that i would not be excluded from homebirth care.

So I am VERY HAPPY!

I guess the GP i saw was just unsupportive of homebirth and was trying to discourage me... Well they'd have to try harder than that!

Thanks everyone xx