Secondary Postpartum Haemorrhage

Gillby1

Hi,

Has anyone else had a Secondary Postpartum Haemorrhage? I had one on Friday, four weeks following the birth of my son, and lost about 2 litres of blood by the time i was stabilised. I was very lucky to be bear a hospital, and was absolutely terrified as i could feel i was losing a huge amount of blood whilst waiting for the ambulance. I genuinely thought i was going to die, as my clothes were soaked with blood before the ambulance even arrived.

The haemorrhage was caused by a piece of retained placenta, which must have been left behind during a manual removal, and i had been back to the doctors several times in the last two weeks due to signs of infection. I was awaiting a scan at the time of the haemorrhage, but given the serious nature of this type of complication, i am amazed that an ultrasound isn't carried out as standard in any situation where a placenta is removed in pieces.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I am still in shock, but thankfully back to relatively good health following a blood transfusion, for which i am very grateful. However, i left hospital in a daze, and now have so many questions! Might it happen again? Will i be at risk for future pregnancies? I would really appreciate sharing experiences with anyone in a similar position.

Thanks,

Gilly

neverdespairgirl

Can't help on the medical aspect, OP, but it sounds terrifying. Glad you are OK.

gizmodo_2

Hi Gillby1 have a big hug, I have had a similar experience so know how you feel...

After giving birth I bled enough that made me feint, after coming round the midwife just kept saying to the consultant "she only lost 400ml of blood". I was so weak afterward and the following day they gave me a blood test due to my symptoms which revealed a really low iron level and so was giving 2 units of blood.

The couple of weeks after I was run down and was having some pains that I couldn't pinpoint. I saw 5 different midwives during the routine house visits and mentions this to each one. Finally one thought maybe I had an infection so she took a swab and got me on antibiotics straight away. The swab came back clear (in hindsight my body must have been working so damn hard to fight the infection and so that's why I was so poorly).

Anyway 3 weeks PP I'm sat down having a cuppa and I can feel blood pouring...I run to the loo and wow was i in shock! Hubby called an ambulance and yes - I had the exact same feeling that I was going to die or something. It's very strange when you see all that blood. It turned out I had retained products and quite a sizeable piece as well. I was upset it was missed as I'm sure she can't have checked the placenta properly.

After I had the ERPC the recovery was remarkable. I was instantly better.

I was disappointed that the midwives didn't pick up on this as I told them 3 out of 4 of the classic symptoms listed in the paperwork they gave me. Sadly I was too ill to read the bumph they gave me when I left hospital or I might have picked up on it sooner too

I'm not worried about next time as if it did happen again I know what to look out for and I'll be making sure the midwive on duty does a thorough check of the placenta.

If you want to chat, feel free to PM It's nice to have someone who's been in a similar position.