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Childbirth

Prolonged Third Stage

5 replies

LordTumble · 12/06/2014 20:24

Hello

Is there anybody here who experienced a prolonged third stage and then went on to have no problems with a subsequent birth?

With my 1st I had a managed third stage so I had the injection but I had a lot of trouble with my placenta coming away. After 45 mins of attempted manual removal which was v v painful, and just as they were getting ready to take me down to theatre, I did pass the placenta. In total my third stage is recorded as lasting 57 minutes.

Now I'm pregnant again and am very worried about this happening again. I don't understand what caused it and whether it's more likely to happen next time. The midwife at my booking appointment was very unconcerned as I still passed the placenta within an hour.

I'm struggling to find anything on the internet about this so would really appreciate hearing any experiences.

Thanks :-)

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PenguinsHatchedAnEgg · 12/06/2014 22:13

I am not sure. Why were they so concerned- was it because you had the injection and it still took so long?

I've had one managed (2 minutes), one attempted physiological (injection after about 45 minutes, took 1 hr 10 in total I think) and one physiological (1 hour). At my last birth my midwives were supremely unconcerned about the time taken and said some people just take longer. Not sure if that applies if you've had the jab though?

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LordTumble · 13/06/2014 09:44

I think it's because I had the injection but I'm really not sure. Nobody really told me anything :-/ but because I ended up losing quite a bit of blood once I did pass the placenta they're recommending I have the injection again this time.

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clairewitchproject · 13/06/2014 09:51

HI there
I had prolonged 3rd stage plus cord traction for 1st birth - placenta delivered at 45 mins with strong traction. Second was fine, delivered in 10 mins or so. 3rd was retained and had to be removed in theatre. This was managed by keeping me on pitocin for 3 extra hours until theatre was available; weirdly contracting with no baby in there didn't hurt at all. 4th was fine, delivered in 10 mins.

For me the key ingredient in the slow placentas was augmentation of labour by pitocin - this happened in 1st and 3rd labours (where I had placenta delivery issues) and not in 2nd and 4th (natural labours). Could this be the case for you?

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nugget05 · 13/06/2014 10:58

I had a prolonged 3rd stage, was given the injection but my placenta was still high. After the midwife trying for almost 40 minutes she went and got a Dr who came and tried for a while before snapping the cord so after an hour in delivery they took me down to theatre where they gave me 2nd degree tears . In total my 3rd stage lasted just over 2 hours, it was rubbish being away from my baby for such a long time but luckily they got it out and so far everything seems ok.

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LordTumble · 13/06/2014 11:09

Thanks for replies. I laboured naturally but ended up having a ventouse so I'm not sure if that could have affected it. To be fair it wasn't the prolonged third stage per se that was so bad, it was the fact that I had the obs trying to manually remove it for 45 mins with a big spatula type thing and what felt like his full hand up me. It bloody hurt worse than the actual birth and I'm dreading it happening again.