Anyone suffered from undiagnosed Placenta Accreta during childbirth?

[Stacey313]

Hiya,
I had my daughter Neve back in March via emergency c-section due to failure to progress to later stage. During my c-section it came apparent that my placenta was fused to my uterus which prevented the uterus to contract, this led to catastrophic blood loss ( 8 units to be precise ) which then led to a balloon being inserted along with a double embolisation. I ended up in intensive care as the 24 hours after the birth I was in a critical condition. I was wondering whether anyone can relate to my experience and share their struggle to come to terms with everything as I haven't come across anyone that has experienced anything similar xx

[April2013]

I haven't, i had extremely heavy bleeding after a miscarriage that resulted in emergency surgery and then 3 months to physically recover and then a year of not wanting to get pregnant due to anxiety over what happened to you happening to me, or other placenta problems causing major blood loss, general fear of major bleeding in pregnancy. I had counselling for something very minor in comparison to what happened to you, in a similar sense I couldn't find anyone whose experience of miscarriage was more about fearing for my own life\shock of seeing all the blood more than sadness about the loss of a baby and that made me feel very isolated. It is wonderful you are physically past this.

[Stacey313]

So sorry to hear about your loss April2013. I'm struggling incredibly to deal with the experience I had and am also worried about future pregnancies. Did your counselling sessions help you at all?

[LumpySpaceCow]

I haven't but was just wondering whether you have had a debrief about what happened? You can then ask questions about future pregnancies. You may then want to see your gp to request counselling. It sounds so traumatic and I'm sorry you had to go through what you did.
I had a section last year and am being scanned again at 32 weeks as this baby's placenta is very near the scar and they need to check for accretia. The consultant said it was very rare though so there might not be a lot of people on here who have had it x

[Stacey313]

Hi LumpySpaceCow, yes I have had a debrief with my consultant and she explained everything, however I still feel like something's missing, it would be nice if someone could relate but I understand that might be difficult due to the rarity. I am currently considering counselling. I hope everything goes well with your birth. Motherhood is such a beautiful thing, I'm so overwhelmed by my daughter, it's incredible 😊

[mickmills]

I had the same in 2009 when my son was born. Catastrophic blood loss, this was before embolisation was available. To save my life I had an emergency hysterectomy. He was my third child, always thought I would have 4.... Was also in ITU for about 4 days. I feel very grateful to be alive.

[Stacey313]

Hi MickMills, did you have trouble coming to terms with what happened? I constantly feel like I'm seeking something

[mickmills]

It was a huge shock, and I look back now and have very few memories of the first few weeks - I was so ill - there is no reason why it happened, nothing could have suggested or prevented it. I now take the view that I am lucky to have had a healthy baby, and lucky I didn't lose my own life. This is one of the reasons maternal death during childbirth was once relatively high. Medical intervention earlier on prevents most of these deaths now.

[mickmills]

If I were you, I would definitely consider counselling.

[Stacey313]

Did counselling help you? If so, did you get help through your GP or did you use an organisation?

[mickmills]

I didn't have counselling. But I work in mental health, and based on what you have said, I think you may benefit from some. Start at your GP.

[April2013]

Hi again, I had CBT counselling for anxiety - you can self refer to your local mental health service often or do it via GP. I found it really helpful to have the opportunity to be totally honest and talk about the experience, I guess it is hard to be totally honest with people you know, I think I needed to get all my upset out there and go into detail about all my thoughts about it - my counsellor was great at letting me have a big cry, she kept handing me tissues! I think the thing I then found made a big difference was her advice that I had got through it and the NHS sorted it out, so encouraging me to teach myself to feel like it was a thing I had overcome - the idea that I can deal with bad situations. So I think now I feel almost a bit proud of myself and now that I'm pregnant again I haven't been worrying about bleeding to death which is quite something considering I was scared of pregnancy for so long, the thought crosses my mind occasionally but I am able to let it go. But counselling is very individual and would be tailored to you so it could go in whatever direction you needed. Have you tried the birth trauma association?

[Stacey313]

I've recently discovered the birth trauma association and have been emailing Anna, she seems very eager to help if I cannot get any from my GP. How long did you have sessions for?

[April2013]

Hi again, I had 6 weeks but if you're still struggling at the end they should extend, as you have a baby you hopefully will not have to wait too long to get seen as you should be prioritised, I also ended up changing counsellor as I didn't really feel comfortable with the first, I felt awkward about it but apparently it is quite common and the main thing is they want you to get better and it is fine if that means a new counsellor, hope it works out for you.