Placenta abruption at 18 weeks

[atrcts]

I have been found to have foetal cells in my blood test, which apparently means my bleeding will be caused by the placenta having slightly torn away.

I am led to understand that as the baby grows, further bleeds can be expected as the tear slightly increases.

I have heard an awful lot of stories about people who have experienced this in later stages of pregnancy, around 26 weeks onward, but I was wondering if anyone had experienced it starting before the foetus is considered viable and how it was managed in the NHS?

One reason I ask is that I've heard people say they were placed in strict bed rest but my hospital didn't mention anything about that.

I'm due a 20 week scan in a week or 2 but apart from that, can expect no further hospital contact until the next red bleed.

[10storeylovesong]

I've been going through this recently. Mine started at 21 weeks when I started bleeding. I was kept in overnight, but was told that this was for my sake rather than baby's as they wouldn't do anything to help baby this early. I went back to work as normal when discharged. I had another red bleed at 23+5 and signed off work and told to rest, and an appointment made to begin steroid injections for baby's lungs at exactly 24 weeks. At 24+1 I had another large bleed and straight away noticed the difference with the staff - I was rushed by ambulance from local hospital to nearest specialist hospital and had every test known to man, kept in 4 nights then sent home with strict instructions to rest. I'm now 27+2 and still on bed rest, although on the good side my tear was smaller at last scan so hopefully fixing itself! Good luck with everything.

[atrcts]

Thanks for your reply. It's a bit disconcerting how differently each hospital manages a red bleed before 24 weeks. I think because I have a dodgy cervix they've been assuming all bleeds come from that, however the last time I was in they found the foetal cells for the first time (no one had looked for them before).

However they still only gave me anti-D injection and sent me on my way. No advice to have any rest at all. Maybe also because the red bleed is no worse than a "normal" period for a fre days, it's not enough to worry them?

I'm really glad you've made it to a good viable stage now, I will relax a lot more when I'm mid to late 20 week stage.

[RoomForALittleOne]

I have small abruptions at 18, 20 and 22 weeks with DS but they weren't diagnosed as this until the placenta had been delivered. I had even less care than you (only had a check that baby's heart was still beating after each episode of bleeding and told not to worry ). When I was in labour, I had extra monitoring because the midwife asked about the bleeding and wondered if it was placental abruptions. Everything was fine but you could clearly see the 3 abruptness areas when the placenta was delivered.

[Midori1999]

I'm sorry to hear this is happening to you.

I had different problems that meant probable early delivery and as I was on bed rest, had lots of time to research. some hospitals in the UK have very good success rates with 23 weekers and in countries such as Sweden, survival rates and outcomes for 23 weekers are about the same as 24 weekers in the UK. Whether a hospital will help a baby born before 24 weeks is dependent on the parent's wishes. If you contact Bliss they can give you information on this and also on premature babies and what to expect in general.

[atrcts]

Roomforalittleone - did you manage to go full term in the end? I think they stumbled across the foetal cells by chance because they were checking my blood for rhesus negative antibodies. They weren't looking for a cause of the bleed as the assumption was it is the cervix causing all the trouble. If I wasn't rhesus negative they'd probably still be none the wiser!

10storeylovesong - out of interest did your HB drop at all with the bleeds? I'm wondering if you were treated a bit more cautiously because your bleeds might have been bigger than mine? Mine was 2-3 days of the red-blood stage of a normal period and occasionally tiny stringy clots, no single clots any bigger than 2/3 my little finger nail.

Midori1999 - thanks for the info, it's always nice to have somewhere to get further information if needed.

[RoomForALittleOne]

I started to labour at 32+6 and was then treated with steroids and nifedipine. I delivered at 37+0 weeks. I laboured prematurely with DD1 as well though so it may have not been connected. I was quite angry that no-one had said how risky labour could be after abruptions but it was totally fine for me and DS.