# Retained Placenta



## poppy

I thought posting a thread about this in this section might be informative and help some mums who have experienced this.

I had a retained placenta with the birth of my son Tristan. Basically, it is when the placenta does not come away on its own and has to be removed. 

In our case, we waited for it to come out for about 30 minutes (even after that injection they give before the third stage) and when it did not come out, they topped up my epidural and took me to theatre to remove it manually. I was a bit shocked as I had never even heard of this happening before - I hadn't even read it in any magazines or books - yes, I had heard of bits of placenta being left in leading to fevers etc - but the whole thing? What happens in a manual removal, is that you get anaethetised (in my case, all I needed was the epidural topping up) and the doctor puts his or her hand 'up there' and they push their hand under the placenta and ease it out. Now, this can happen fairly easily - as in my case, or in some cases, it can be a bit more complicated - sometimes, the placentas come out in bits - or it can even be placenta acreta (I think someone else has posted a thread here on this), where the placenta has embedded into the muscle lining or precreta (where it has gone even further into other organs). In this case, it would have to be operated on.

Even though, it was a bit disorientating to have the manual removal done just after delivering a baby, I am glad my doctors acted promptly as a retained placenta can potentially be a dangerous thing - leading to haemorraging etc as the body has not given out the signals for the womb to contract/blood vessels to close etc after labour as it still senses a placenta in there. I would have liked to have had a bit more feedback from the doctors about why they think it happened etc afterwards though - I know from what they said that the placenta was 'stuck but came out easily and in one piece during the procedure' but apart from that, I had no feedback. I know from reading up, that sometimes there 'is no reason' and could not have been prevented or forseen - hmmm:growlmad:.

I often wonder if it happened because, during my labour, my contractions really slowed down and I ended up with forceps. When it came to delivering the placenta, my contractions had all but stopped - so I am wondering if that had to do with it. One report I read on the internet did mention investigating a link between weak uterine contractions and retained placenta.

What I am worried about, is that after googling (not advised I know!:wacko:), I have found out that if you have had a retained placenta once, you have an increased chance of it happening again. I know, if I get pregnant again, I am going to make sure the doctors are aware that I have had this before, so hopefully it would go smoothly.

Have any of you experienced a retained placenta? What was your view on what happened - did you get any useful feedback from the doctors? Have any of you had subsequent pregnancies with retained placentas? How was your treatment and management by the doctors when you were in labour and afterwards?

I did post another thread on this a while back but I am unsure how to attach it - I will see if I can get one of the mods to do it.

Thanks for reading!

Poppy:hugs:
xxx


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## poppy

https://www.babyandbump.com/postnatal-support/83208-retained-placenta-question.html


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## poppy

I think that worked - yay! I am a technical genius...well, maybe not - but yay! I have managed to post the thread link.


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## RachelStar

I had a retained placenta with my first (almost 8 years ago). After baby was delivered, the placenta just never budged. They gave me no explanation for it, I was still contracting, had a pretty standard labour and delivery, just wouldn't budge. My epidural was topped up and I went to theatre pretty quickly, where they managed to remove it manually. It was all over really quickly!

I didn't read into it much when I was pregnant with number 2 and figured if it happened again, I would deal with it. Luckily it never happened and the placenta was delivered really easily. The only difference between my labours was the fact that I had an epidural the first time, but I don't see there being a connection there.


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## MrsMummy&bump

I had a retained placenta with my daughter in July 2008. I had a fairly difficult labour, but managed with only gas&air and tens, my daughter was back to back- delivered eventually by forceps but after 2 midwives, a doctor and senior doctor all tried forceps, then ventouse 3 times eventually forceps were tried again and she arrived safely. I had the injection to expell the placenta but nothing happened and I was haemorraging quite serverely- little be known to me as I was so in love with my beautiful girl! Not entirely sure how long it was until I was taken to theatre but I know the cord was beginning to snap so I was whisked away before my girl was weighed etc something which I was quite sad about. I was given a spinal block which numbed from the chest down but I lost all feeling in my hands too and it was found after that was given too much. Anyway the placenta was removed hole as far as I am aware and after an hour was reunited with my gorgeous girl and my husband. I never recieved any feed back- however I lost a lot of blood and 3 days after my daughter was born I needed a blood transfussion as my red cell count was dangerously low. 

I am now looking at my options for my 2nd baby due in May and would very much like a home birth but I am classed at high risk so midwives are not keen on this. I know the risks of this happening again are there BUT and it is a fairly big but it may not. Has anyone had any experience of this happening in 1st and then 2nd pregnancies?

x


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## kirsten1985

I had it as you know from my other thread and they said after they had unsuccessfully attempted the manual removal that they think I have a bicornuate uterus (she could feel it with her hands) which could explain it getting so stuck. You can't see if the uterus is a funny shape on an ultrasound normally, but it is easier when pregnant. However, it was never seen on my scans. In between Accreta and Percreta there is Increta, so there are three stages of 'stuckness' er, not a word, I know.

I will be having an MRI scan before I get pregnant again in the hope that they can tell me whether I have this bicornuate uterus or not.


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## poppy

kirsten1985 said:


> I had it as you know from my other thread and they said after they had unsuccessfully attempted the manual removal that they think I have a bicornuate uterus (she could feel it with her hands) which could explain it getting so stuck. You can't see if the uterus is a funny shape on an ultrasound normally, but it is easier when pregnant. However, it was never seen on my scans. In between Accreta and Percreta there is Increta, so there are three stages of 'stuckness' er, not a word, I know.
> 
> I will be having an MRI scan before I get pregnant again in the hope that they can tell me whether I have this bicornuate uterus or not.

Thanks Kirstin. Apart from the scans to determine whether or not you have a bicornuate uterus, does the doctors give you any idea of how they will manage your next pregnancy? Are you going to get extra support, will the delivery suite be prepared for when you come in etc?


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## sophie c

i had retained placenta, same as you really, waited for 30mins+ for it to come away with no luck so i had a spinal as i didnt have an epi dural, it was a 17hr labour and my contractions were very sloooowww, it wasnt a very pleasant experience with my legs in stirups and they nurses standing around "down there" whilst the woman was rumaging in "there" yuck!, i needed a stitch afterwards.
i also had no explanation, i wish i did though, and i hope i dont have it again, i had to have a catheter aswell :(

xxx


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## kirsten1985

poppy said:


> kirsten1985 said:
> 
> 
> I had it as you know from my other thread and they said after they had unsuccessfully attempted the manual removal that they think I have a bicornuate uterus (she could feel it with her hands) which could explain it getting so stuck. You can't see if the uterus is a funny shape on an ultrasound normally, but it is easier when pregnant. However, it was never seen on my scans. In between Accreta and Percreta there is Increta, so there are three stages of 'stuckness' er, not a word, I know.
> 
> I will be having an MRI scan before I get pregnant again in the hope that they can tell me whether I have this bicornuate uterus or not.
> 
> Thanks Kirstin. Apart from the scans to determine whether or not you have a bicornuate uterus, does the doctors give you any idea of how they will manage your next pregnancy? Are you going to get extra support, will the delivery suite be prepared for when you come in etc?Click to expand...

I have been told today that I will actually be able to have an MRI whilst I am pregnant to see whether it is attached too much or not. They will be monitoring me much more closely, and I will have a c/s. If I get accreta again, and it will not come away easily during the c/s I will have a hysterectomy. I cannot go through what I went through this time again. I have very few memories of Freya's first 3 months, and this upsets me. I was told today (had a meeting with the consultant who dealt with me during pregnancy) that it is quite likely that exactly the same thing will happen again, but there is still a chance it will not. I hope it never happens again.


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## icculcaz

i had to wait over 5 hours for mine to be removed in theatre. they kept putting my op back til late that day and they kept trying to remove it the old fashioned way (no epidural as i only had pethidine during labour) before going to theatre.... i didnt get any hint of an epidural til i got in theatre. it wasnt nice. im so glad its not going to happen again!


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## naddy2shoes

Hi there

I also had a retained placenta with my first pregnancy 2 yrs ago. The labour itself was fairly long as my contractions although they started really strong, then went on and off over he course of the next 2 days. 

Even after my son's head came out, my contractions stopped again and midwifes massaged my tummy to try get them going, but it wasn't happeneing. We waited about 20minutes before the last contraction finally came and Lukah was born. I was given the injection to remove the placenta, but with no more contractions coming nothing happened. About 30 minutes later they took me off to theatre for a spinal block and manually removed it just as you described :wacko:

I too never really got an explanation as to why it happened. But I am pregnant now and asked for home birth. My husband was worried this would happen again, so we sought advice and after seeing the consultant he assured me that it's such a very small risk that you can retain the placenta, and only a very slightly higher risk that it would happen twice, so gave me the ok for a home birth. 

He did however say that a factor which may possibly have attributed was the fact I have had two D and C operations following 2 miscarriages. The operation could ave left scars on my uterus walls making the surface less smooth and possibly increasing the chance the placenta would stick.

I appreciate this does not give you any more of an answer, but hope that sharing my experience did.

Good luck and all the very best

:flower:


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## poppy

Just a quick update!

I posted a while ago about having a retained placenta with my first son and worrying that it would happen again. Well, I delivered my second son on the 21st of January 2011and the placenta came away on its own after 13 minutes! Yipee! 

I am so relieved and hope this gives some reassurance to those who have experienced retained placentas before that having one does not necessarily mean that it will definately happen again (although it might). My labours were very different:

With Tristan:

* Near 30 hour active labour
* Had gas and air, pethidine, epidural
* Had to have my waters broken
* Had a long second stage and had to have the forceps
* Had to have the placenta manually removed in theatre

With Brannon:

* Five hour labour (not sure how much was active as I got measured at 8.45pm and was told I was 4-5cm and the was fully dilated by 9.45pm an hour later!)
* waters broke on their own
* Extremely short second stage - only 14 minutes pushing and the baby was out in about three/four pushes
* Only used gas and air
* Placenta came out (after the injection) in around 13 minutes

Really pleased with my labour experience and hope that if we have a third child the labour goes the same way as Brannon's birth and the placenta comes away easily again.

I do think that last time, my prolonged labour and exhausted body caused the contractions to subside leading to the placenta sticking. 

Oh well, good luck to you fellow ladies who have suffered retained placentas and who are thinking of having another baby.

xxx


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## Sevenladybugs

I had a retained placenta with my last birth. We waited 45 min for it to come out on it's own, and then the Dr manually removed it. I had NO pain meds and it was the most excruciatingly painful thing I've ever experienced. My current Dr reassured me that if it happens again they will take me to the OR and give me anesthesia. She said it could happen again, but it probably won't.


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## fish girl

I had this on no three baby and am now expecting no 4.. Have not given it much thought hope I don't have it again..!!!


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## Sovereign

That's great hun. I had a retained placenta too and it wasn't a nice experience x


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## BunnyFace

I had retained placenta and the doctor tried ripping it out without giving me any pain relief. They eventually gave me a spinal and led me off to theatre thinking i was going to be cut open. It was not until they had got it out that they decided they'd let me know i wasnt going to be cut up. My whole birthing experience when down hill from there. They never told me why it didn't come away :shrug:


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## BABY TALES

My baby was born at exacctly 37 weeks after a ver short labour & delivery (under 2 hrs). The midwives troed all sorts to get the placenta to budge including reflexology! I had no pain relief during the labour yet they kept on trying to remove it by 'getting their hands in'..not pleasent,especially when u have just given birth.They eventually decided I needed it manually removing about 30 mins and several attempts later.I had a spinal block.There were loads of people in theatre,and with my legs in sturrups,it wasn't too nice!! They told my husband I would be about an hour in theatre-in the end,it was more like three,because the placenta had embeded into something or another and it just wouldnt budge.My husband thought he was never going to see me again after witnessing the amount the of blood loss,and nobody updating him on why it was taking so long..I missed the important bonding things with my baby like skin to skin and first feed..I got no explanation about why it happened.Although they said I am at no more risk of it happening agai than anyone else.

4 weeks after the birth I still had some bleeding,which I assumed was still lochia.Then I experienced strong pains,which were very much like labour pains.They virtually brought me to my knees.I went to the loo,where I passed an egg sized 'tissue mass'.I went to A&E who refered me bk to labour and delivery.They 'thought' it was retained placenta,but were not sure.My baby is now 9wks old-and I still do not know what it was,or if everything is now gone :-(


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## glamis

poppy
so glad your 2nd was not a retained placenta too
l had this with my dd1 and am panicking the same would be with this one too, so have them noted in my notes
l too was not told why it happened but from readind your first thread some had attaching issues (l would say that) and it does make sense coz l have endometriosis and suffer from adhesions, but at my 16wk check with the consultant he said l am unlikely to have retained placenta again with this one, but l am not so sure now. Also had to have a spinal in theathre for it to be removed and this was traumatic plus not being able to have that bonding time with my dd :cry: 
with this one l shall be demanding lots more info and be monited closely :growlmad:


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## Cathryn1991

Hi, I know I'm writing on here a few years after everyone else but Id like to write down my experience... When I was 17 I fell pregnant and got diagnosed with a heamotoma (and internal bleed) where I was told I could miscarry at any point. The bleed carried on constantly until I was almost 30weeks and my son was born at 36weeks 6days. He was a healthy 6lbs10 and healthy. I had an epidural and after receiving the injection they found my cirvix had closed very quickly and the placenta was still attached. I got taken into Theater and it was removed. I really should not have looked down whilst this was happening! Her whole arm had disappeared! Eww... I had no reasoning for it at all... But I was told I should have been offered other scan because of the bleeding but never got them and they could have picked up on a problem... I am now 14weeks pregnant with my 2nd and I've been classed as high risk,, I hope I get better treatment and observation with this one!


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## Dominoxx

Hi, I had a retained placenta with my first baby. It was a 33 hour, problem free unmedicated labour and had the birth as planned in a birth centre just next to a hospital. At 4.30am he fell onto the floor and I scooped him up and held him in my arms kneeling up with a towel wrapped around us both for at least 30 minutes, my husband and I starring into his eyes (our midwife filmed all these first moments). No contractions whatsoever after the birth. I had forgotten all about the placenta, which we planned to deliver naturally. I then sat down to breastfeed and spent another 40 minutes helping him do that, during which he mecc'd all over my bare stomach. Still not a single tiny contraction, and the midwifes started making concerned noises. Cord was cut and baby passed to husband for his first cuddle, and we have a beautiful video of this where newborn is nestled on his chest and he is whispering sweet things ("hello, I am your daddy" etc) against my loud animalistic straining noises in the background of me sitting on the birthing stool and then the toilet just nearby desperately trying to push out the placenta. I then tried the injection, cord traction, still not a thing. It was fully retained, and not much blood. I had breakfast and a cup of tea then coiled the umbilical cord up into a nappy type thing to go to the hospital for manual removal. The biggest pain was having to be in hospital all day. They gave me a spinal and had it removed in theatre at about 11.30am and we discharged ourselves at 8pm that night. Despite having to go to hospital, I was on cloud 9 after having given birth and joked with all the hospital staff about my umbilical "tail", which I found hilarious. I lost quite a lot of blood during the removal itself, didn't need a transfusion but looked like the bride of dracula for a few weeks afterwards. I've read lots of stories of women going on to have problem free future third stage deliveries after a retained placenta, and hope that I will fall into the same bracket. Despite the fact that I'm at a slightly higher risk of having another retained placenta, I'm keen for a homebirth next time. I question whether I should have a managed third stage next time though? From what I've read, it doesn't seem as though it will make much difference either way. Has anyone had any advice as to whether or not to have a managed third stage in a subsequent pregnancy after having a previous retained placenta?


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## bethyb

I had a normal delivery with my first and a retained placenta with my second, I'm now expecting my third and want another home birth, anybody have a similar experience to me? Xxx


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