Postpartum Hemorrhage After First Baby, Scared to Have a Second One.

I also experienced a postpartum hemorrhage immediately after giving birth to my first child, except the Methergine did not work so they had to massage my uterus to try to get the blood vessels to contract. That did not work for quite some time and I had to be given 3 units of blood. My liver and kidneys began failing. I was kept in the hospital for 5 days. It took me quite some time to recover fully. I was told not to have more children, but we really didn't think I could anyway. We had done artificial insemination for this pregnancy.

Now for the happy part. Almost six years later I had an IUD that started giving me trouble so I had it taken out. We were trying to figure out what birth control to use, and one month after removing the IUD I found out I was pregnant. I was TERRIFIED. I ended up having a scheduled c-section and everything was fine. I had a complicated pregnancy, but the first pregnancy was full of complications too. The important part for your concerns is that the delivery was exactly like they wanted it to be. The reason they wanted me to have a c-section was because they didn't want my uterus to get worn out at all from delivery. My first labor was 23 hours long and very difficult. They think that may have contributed to the hemorrhaging, so they wanted this delivery to be short and sweet. Now I have two wonderful, happy boys!

You are not foolish to be worried, but at least now you know that it's possible to have a second child after a horror story of a first delivery. :)

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I'd definitely go in for a pre-conception appointment to discus this- either with your care provider you had last time, if you felt it was handled appropriately, or with another provider who can look over your records. They can give you a better idea if this is a situation that is likely to reoccur, what can be done to prevent it, and how it would be managed if it did.

It might have been a fluke, it might have been due to obstetric mismanagment, or it might be something you're prone to. It's worth knowing more, no matter what.

I would make an appt with your doctor and explain what happend to you and ask what may have caused it and if there is any way of knowing if there's a possibility of it happening again. Maybe it's 1 in a million chances. Maybe because of past history and age, they will tell you you will have to be on bed rest and closely monitored after a certain point in the pregnancy. I would for sure ASK a doctor. I am sure all it went through is WAY worth it now that you have your child, but you do not want to put your life in danger.

I would definitely do some research, talk to your doctor, and talk to more people that have been through this. Your health is so important.
Just my two cents,
R.

It sounds like you have gone through a traumatizing birth experience and could use extra help in processing your first birth (as well as the other good advise already given regarding getting some medical explanations). I suggest either going for a couple of sessions with a physchologist who specializes in preg., birth, and parenting (Suzanne Swanson and Krista Post are both excellent) or attending the "Another birth, another Story" 2-day session being held in May with Susan Lane and Suzanne Swanson. Check out www.childbirthcollective.org for email addresses and phone numbers for these women.

I would definitely talk with your doctor to get a better understanding of what happened. I can absolutely tell you though that every pregnancy is different. My first one was textbook, absolutely no issues. Second one I ended up having an emergency c-section among other complications and got an infection afterwards. I am 35 and unless you have a reason to be concerned (family history), I don't think being 39 should be a concern. A lot of women are having kids later now.

There are 2 reasons for hemorrhage that long after birth. Either you were doing too much or there was a piece of placenta left inside. Since the Methergine got the bleeding under control it is doubtful it was due to a piece of placenta left behind. The placenta leaves behind a wound on the uterus the size that it is. It essentially scabs over and heals up. However, if you do too much you pull that scab away and the bleeding picks up. Sometimes, it will just pick up a little and this is the bodies way of telling the mother to slow down. If it picks up a lot as it did in your case you were doing way too much. You should not be scared of having another baby. Most likely it won't happen again.

And also don't worry about being an "older" mother. I am a midwife and see women all the time in their late 40's giving birth. The age thing was just the medical communities way of getting women to agree to more expensive testing which equals more money. Don't buy into the age thing.

Every pregnancy is different. It might not be a problem at all the next time around. They'll keep an eye on things since you have a past track record.
Discuss it with your Dr and see what they say.

No your not foolish to worry that another hemmorage would occur it happened to me,(long)heres my story after my second daughter 3 months went by I had this nagging pain on my lower left side,I had extreme vagial pain I was a rotating door to my drs office I seen him at least 4 times a month I had lab work,urine tests both straight cath & pee in the cup & sonos done,along with vaginal exams they didn't come up with much till one day I get a phone call that it has to be Intercystal Cystitus I had blood in my urine then another exam showed something an odd bump that was never there before so went in again to get it removed turned out to be a cyst after that was out of the way & cleared up I was getting to feel better I was very ill my hubby has no idea what Iw as going through even if I could expalin it to him he still wouldn't understand,anyhow the dr appts cut back for a while one night I woke up as usual to pee had no cramping nothing peed wiped & blood i'm thinking ok i'm getting back to normal it's just my period then I laed back down few minutes later I went to the bathroom again this time it was a water fall I yelled for my husband to come down I was getting dizzy,the blood was over flowing the toilet I couldn't keep it flushing fast enough I called my mom to come she was here in 5 min,called my OB after hrs he told me it is probably my period backed up I asked how is that I never heard of that told him this isn't normal i'm going to the ER hung up I was in the ER shortly afterwards (an ambulance would of taken longer)they did an exam & when they did the DR the lok on his face & on my husbands face I will never forget he used these really huge q-tips to swab around when he did it let loose a massive blood clot it felt like I was having another baby he asked how long it was when I delivered it was only 3 months ago,he asked if I was pregnant I said no they thought I was having a miscarriage till the test proved otherwise.They called in an OB to come check me my options were an emergency D&C I opted out there wasn't a real explanation to why this occured I didn't have any placenta left behind that my body could of feed off of then disregarded,I could stay in the hospital & be given a hormonal injection I choose to do that he put me up on the critcal care unit close the the operating rooms incase they called him back then he would rush me in.After all this I was back on my feet tryign to calm down destress,but no another month went by it occured again thisn tiem I did do the D&C and nothing showd up to why it happened still no explanation to why.I was afraid to have anymore kids but didn't want the hormonal BC after a while I was pregnant again afraid to what would happen she was only 18 months,the Ob wasn't concerned to it happenin again i'm healthy my woman equipment is healthy & working properly had a great pregnancy she was 2 days late had a fast labor & delivery 30 min she was here after 2 hrs postpartum I yelled for my hubby & nurse I was hemmoraging turned gohstly pale dizzy,sick to my stomach my hubby said this occured to her twice after her 2nd delivery they called the OB I was given a hormonal shot & a great nurse who had this experince before said there is no need to go to the OR I can manually clean you out need to get all the clots outs so she did & OMG that hurt more than labor itself but they weren't going to let me bleed like that the hormonal injection helped so much,the thing is that after 48 hrs your free to go home but my OB wanted me to stay for another day or two but insurance wouldn't approved it she felt that I needed to be observed for a little longer turned out it never occured again I had a pleasan potpartum recovery breastfeed her till she was 14 months & didn't worry about a period now they are regular again.
I know this was long now i'm 31 she is 2 & I don't want anymore kids I know I can have them but the painthat was endured with my last 2 pregnancies was beyond normal I was in tears alot becasue it hurt so much I don't think that OBs or midwives can really understand it they say it's pressure of the baby but I think otherwise it was intolerable most days Iw as off my feet bed rested even though they didn't order it I had to listen to my body & what i was telling me now there is still no reason to why this occured other than it happens.I have great OBs in my office sometimes our bodies go through stress & changes occur when we have babies,if I were to become pregnant again I would be terrified but still carry on.I'm not ready to tie up my tubes i'm not 34 yet this is the age I set for myself not to have anymore kids after that I feel that it would be to old for me to have anymore kids & the helath risks that are involoved for having them after 34.

You are not foolish for being concerned. Talk to your doctor about it. I hemorrhaged right after my first child was delivered. It was scary, and I was really worried about it the second time around. But it's true, every pregnancy is different. I had no problems at all with my second. I remember my husband looking at the doctor right after our second child came out, as if to say "Is it happening again?" She gave him a thumbs up! Smooth sailing that time! You and your doctor will know this time to watch closely for anything that isn't right. But most likely you will be just fine :)

I had a postpartum hemorrhage just a few hours after delivering my first (I have three children). I ended up with a D&C, due to retained placenta, it was very scary, they were talking about a possible hysterectomy. With my second two there was no hemorrhage but they watched my very closely post delivery, checking bleeding every couple hours. It is very scary, but as long as you know and ALL the dr.'s and nurses treating you know, it is something that can be prevented and kept under control.