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After I gave birth to my daughter I ended up in theatre having a spinal block to remove the retained placenta. I have now been reading around and found out this may happen again. I really hope not, I was quite depressed for a while from being separated from my daughter and didnt get to see her til about 8 hours after she was born :( Does anyone know if its common to happen again?
Hi there i have had the same happen to me and the last 2 times i have had to begiven blood after. I also missed my baby so much. I am thinking about having a baby with my new husband to be in 4 weeks but i am so scared.:pray:
It isn't likely to happen again, but I know a few women on here who had one every time. I had one last time and my Dr told me I am at no more risk of another one as what I was the first time, but we will be prepared for it JIC. can you find out if there was any scar tissue from last time and do you know why you had one in the first place? If there is scar tissue, the new placenta can adhere to it and get stuck, or there might be an underlying reason as to why.
I retained the placenta with Noah (I was warned this could happen because of how early he was), and I was told that I had a bigger than average chance of retaining the placenta with Harrison.
There was a bit of a moment after delivering Harry where it looked like the placenta wasn't going to come out, I was given the injection, a Dr was called in to have a look, and then all of a sudden, out it came.
Wishing you all the best for an unretained placenta this time around :)
I had a retained placenta with Angus' birth and was scared of it happening again and having to go through the whole failed manual removal, haemmorage and GA.
Thankfully it didn't happen again and Calebs placenta popped out quickly and intact. The OB was prepared for a trip to theatre and was quite happy that he got to go home so it was hoorays all round ;)
Renee,
I would echo Shannon's advice. Her story is exactly what we planned to do with our last baby. As she said, if you're prepared, it doesn't have to be a rush and you can have some time with bub first.
If you have an epidural for the birth anyway, they will probably be able to do it in Delivery Suite. This is what my doctor would have preferred. I asked to plan it for theatre because I wanted a GA (I don't like epidurals).
I ended up with a c/sec, for completely unrelated reasons, so it was never an issue. But I'm glad that we had the plan in place.
Renee,
It is a really painful thing to be removed from your child post birth and I am sorry that this happened to you. :hug:
I would advise really researching this and asking some questions. Find out from your care provider (if you don't have the same one as last time you can access your records via Freedom of Information and ask another health care provider to help you understand them) what happened last time.
Asking for a physiological third stage (where no drugs are given to deliver the placenta) can help decrease the chances of retained placenta. After your baby is born, sitting upright (a birthing stool is often used) and breastfeeding your baby can help to deliver the placenta. Having a midwife or doula that can support you and advocate for you through this process can and will also help. Since the advent of medically managed third stage the delivery of the placenta is often rushed. If the placenta isn't out within about 20 mins medical people often want it out by other means... Not always - but often.
Sometimes it is so that the placenta just doesn't want to budge and of course this increases the risk of haemhorrage. Then there is the need for the placenta to be removed in theatre. You can ask that you feed your baby first and then go to theatre (if you are not bleeding excessively). This is something that you can have in your birth plan to help minimise the stress on birth day.
Many older midwives suggest drinking dark grape juice throughout labour - this is an old remedy to help with bleeding and the birth of the placenta.
Hoping you can get what you need from this birth and that that placenta is born smoothly. :hug:
i had a retained placenta for my first. I was wheeled off almost immediately from my little baby and didnt even get to b/feed her. I lost a lot of blood and ended up having the placenta moved manually. I was petrified with my #2 pregnancy of the same thing......(i was told i almost had a hysterectomy after i gave birth to DD#1). Anyway, like Flowerchild said, i made sure the midwives at my hospital of choice knew my history, knew my fears, knew exactly how i DIDNt want this labour to go.
I had no probs - delivered bubs in 30 mins (almost in the front seat of the car, we just made it to emergency, i still had my shoes on). Anyway, i totally , totally can relate to your fears, i just ensured i was prepared for the worst, and my support people knew my background.....ive got my fingers crossed again this pregnancy :)
Thanks heaps ladies :) Sounds like a plan to me, I will go in prepared and let the midwives know of my plans and go from there. Thanks for all the advice, I am going to write it all down so I dont forget! :D
Like flowerchild said, a natural approach to the 3rd stage can greatly reduce these problems. When the umbilical cord is not clamped but instead allowed to finish pulsating of it's own accord, not only does your child get the benefit af all that cord blood, but the placenta gives off a hormone that naturally sepparates it from the uterus and reduces risk of retention to pretty close to zip.
Good luck with your next birth.
Synto often is more a problem than a cure I agree Shannon. Also is the fact that the third stage if it is left to a womans own body can take a bit of time. In the past this was accepted. Now, because with synto the placenta is often born almost immediately after the birth a third stage that takes some time is thought of as "abnormal". Not so!
It is believed by some (myself included) that as with all facets of pregnancy and birth there is a psychological factor that comes into play. The third stage is the letting go, the cutting of ties with the womb, the end of pregnancy. Where a woman may have some issues around that it can mean hanging on - not letting go. Being gently reminded that it's time. Let's move on now this pregnancy is over and the baby is here! In a natural third stage it often takes time for the Mama to get her head around it. Okay, so the baby is here! It IS here! Also, that feeling - oh no not more pushing! (even though it's only a couple of pushes - we are often way over the pushing by now!
Please don't think I am inferring that this is always the case but just something that may bear some thinking of for some women. Sometimes when there is a fear of "how will I cope", "will I be able to b/f" etc... Again, not always but just something that may bear some thought.
I believe that the third stage is important. It's a completion. When that placenta is birthed the pregnancy is over. It is a stage to be experienced and remembered. Then your midwife will show you your placenta - I think they are amazing... That brings us to what do we do with the placenta after it's born??? :hug:
Thanks heaps ladies :) Definately helped me out alot! I have another question sorry! When I was leaving theatre the lady that did it told me that I was lucky I went there because "there was more than just the placenta". Does anyone have any idea what that means, what else could be there?! I never really thought of it at the time but now it's constantly paying on my mind, I'm thinking all sorts of things now...
Thanks Shannon :) I just phoned the hospital and they want $36 to give me my records! So I will never be finding out I spose lol Bit silly though!
Yes, it is legal for hospitals to charge a fee for you to look at your medical records - it is to go towards the cost of the staff time in retrieving them and (usually) sitting with you and answering questions as you look at them. We do this where I work and the real 'cost' of doing this is actually at least $100 - most places just charge a small fee as we know it is difficult for people to afford the 'real cost' and we think people should get the chance to have their medical records explained. So $36 is a token fee really.
I agree with Feathertop. It takes time for someone to retrieve your file and photocopy it, compile it and post it. However, it may be worthwile if there are questions you would like answered. :hug:
I have had two retained placentas, the first was the whole lot didn't come out and the cord snapped and i was in surgery and given blood afterwards the second time i delivered most of the placenta in fact they thought all of it but then i haemoragged (sp?) and went to theatre where they removed a little bit more, drs tell me its more than likely to happen again