Second birth vs first PPH

[Rose138]

Hi all,

I was lucky and had a really good pregnancy with our first. At 10 days overdue my midwife couldn't perform a sweep as she couldn't get to my cervix. I went in at 12 days overdue to be induced. They wouldn't at first as monitors showed I was having contractions. Day 13 I was given the pessary and my waters broke that night. There were issues with my cervix throughout. Day 14 I was put on the pitocin drop and our son was born that night. I had a sudden fever and a ventouse and episiotomy were made to help. I then had a haemorrhage and lost 1600ml so had two units of blood (transfusion) and our son was put on an antibiotic canular as a precaution (for sepsis).

Our son is now 2 and I'm 8 weeks pregnant. I haven't seen a midwife yet and my questions I'm dying to ask I hope maybe some of you may be able to help- will my pregnancy be viewed as low risk? I'm really hoping for a water birth. Will there be any extra tests or anything put in place when I go in to labour because of what happened previously? Thank you so much in advance

Sorry, no advice but just pitching up to hear others' experiences as I had similar and would love a waterbirth if I ever felt brave enough, and was lucky enough, to have another.

I'm bumping because I had a PPH with my last one and would love to know others experiences of a second pregnancy after PPH. I was told I could have another child but that they would canulate me read to stick a syntosin (sp?) drop in asap after birth. I would love another child but concerned about the risks tbh.

This sounds quite similar to my first birth - despite trouble free pregnancies I was then considered high risk for the subsequent births due to the PPH.
I wasn't given the option of birth in a midwife led unit and had to have a canular put in so that they could administer syntocin? and other medication quickly after the birth to prevent another PPH.
I lost 3000ml with my first but the good news was that only a negligible amount was lost with my second.

I don't think anything extra was done during the pregnancy, but they did suggest getting to the hospital in good time when in labour so that they could be prepared. As it happened I didn't go into labour spontaneously with any of my children and had to be induced each time.
I was also told about the importance of keeping my iron levels up during pregnancy to reduce risk.

Good luck, hope all goes smoothly for you this time!

I had a pph (about 2 litres) with first baby probably caused by retained placenta. Second baby I had at home in a birthing pool no problems (except it really fucking hurt of course, people who tell you that the second baby just falls out quickly and it's all magical and pain free are big fat liars)

My consultant just discussed the risks with me and said as long as I was aware of the risks but happy with them it was my choice. Which I took to mean, if you die don't even think about trying to sue us.

My midwife had 25 years experience and I felt in safe hands. I suffered very minimal bleeding in the end although passed a blood clot the size of a melon before the placenta which I think kepther on her toes a bit!

I had PPH with DD1 (not a particularly bad one) and I was put under consultant led for 2nd. I was advised against midwife led unit, though I didn't want that anyway so not sure what would've happened otherwise. I did have a second PPH too.

Meant to add, in reality the only difference in care during pregnancy and delivery was a one off appointment to discuss options and risk with a consultant and when I arrived in labour the first thing they did was fit a canular.

I had an 800ml PPH with DD1. They classed me as low risk with DD2 as it was less than 1000ml. I was told any more than 1000ml is high risk and that was a year ago. Sorry!

It depends what's available in your area a bit - you should ask for a consultant to review your notes and discuss. I had retained placenta and a 1.5 litre PPH with DC1, and was also advised by a consultant and the midwife not to go for the midwife led/birthing unit because I needed to be on a drip post partum to avoid another PPH with DC2. I did not have a second PPH and my second baby was delivered by midwives in the hospital. I wouldn't go against medical advice personally, having had one PPH, I would not want that to happen where there were no doctors.

I had a PPH with ds1 . Overall a very traumatic birth. I was quite poorly for some weeks after in fact. When I was expecting ds2 I was quite ADAMENT I was not going through all that again. I had an elcs with him and although there was more bleeding than normal it was controlled better within the operating room. With dd (no 3!) I had a vbac and no PPH! My kids' birth weights did dramatically reduce with each one though and I think that helped a great deal with th aside of things.

pickled i'm suprised you found a MW willing to take on the risk with you having had a previous major PPH - both the Drs and Midwives I talked to were clear I should go the hospital route. Glad it worked out ok.

I had a pph with my first. I was under a consultant for my second pregnancy due to this. Throughout my second (very straight forward pregnancy) I was told I'd have to give birth on the consultant led ward and not the midwife led unit and I'd need a cannula in my hand ready for in case it happened again.

At my 40+2 appointment with a different consultant it was agreed that I didn't need this and could go midwife led. I went into labour that night but had a bleed during the early stages. Due to this bleed I ended up having to go straight to the consultant led ward. Ended up with the cannula and on fluids. Had a very straight forward birth, no pph with my second, and was home within a couple of hours, though.

I do think it depends on the consultant. Our midwife led unit is in the hospital itself so that may have been a factor with allowing me to go midwife led.

efferlunt i believe the cannulation etc was exactly what they did with me for DC2 (and check the placenta very carefully), i felt it was all very well handled and DC2's birth was a (still painful) cakewalk compared to DC1. The PPH was the thing I was most terrified of with DC2 but the consultants were very sympathetic and caring, and I got to the point where I felt I'd survived it once so I'd survive it again if it happened a second time.

Thank you all so much for your replies. It is so nice to hear from people who have experienced the same. After I had our first, people didn't seem to understand and made comments like "every woman bleeds after having a baby". But if you haven't had a PPH you can't understand what it's like both physically or emotionally.
I was lucky and the birthing pools at my hospital (there are only two) were both free so I was allowed some time in there when I first went in to labour. So I had 7 hours in there and it was amazing but then had to leave to have the pitocin drip. So because I have experienced it, I was really hoping I'd be able to opt for it this time round but I thought I was being overly hopeful!
I just pray that it all goes as smoothly as possible, baby is healthy and well and hopefully no PPH.
Those of you that had a meeting with a consultant, did you ask for this or did your midwife arrange this for you?
Also to those of you that have commented about not being sure on having another baby after your PPH, honestly I never thought I would! But just give yourselves time and you'll know when you're ready. (Although every now and again I do think about it and go in to panic mode that it may happen again this time round!)- but I think this is a normal feeling. xx

i agree rose i was never having another one and then all of a sudden, 3 years later it had receded enough and I found I could do it and the staff were all very caring and it was fine. Just ask for a consultant review of the notes of your last birth and a consultation with them to be booked in at the booking appt - I think my MW had requested it anyway in my case but I'd just get the request in up front.

Hi rose,
Exactly the same situation for me.
2l+ pph with dc 1 and really really didn't want to be classed as high risk for dc2.
I did get put onto consultant led care, but this was actually the best thing.
I was able to explain my desires for a natural birth to the consultant and that I was willing to be flexible if needed and she had the power to add notes to my file to that effect.
E.g. No automatic cannulation on arrival
And that all things going well she was happy for a water birth.
The only thing she recommended was that I used a hospital rather than birthing centre or home birth because these are located a longish drive from the hospital if I did need more care.
In the end I had an amazing birth for dc 2.
Please please look into hypnobirthing. It's the most incredible thing and made the hugest difference to my attitude going into labour and I firmly believe being so relaxed made the birth go smoothly, around 2 hours start to finish and no (time!) interventions at all.

I had an ante partum hemorrhage and a post partum one, around 2L. I was induced and the hemorrhage started as soon as I started dilating properly.

With dc2 I was put on shared cared and classed as high risk. I wasn't allowed to have a water birth (same with the births that followed post dc2 aswell) and i had to have a cannula in early labour to make sure everything was as prepared as can be. I also had to have the injection to help deliver the placenta to minimise the risk of not contracting enough. I didn't have a PPH with that birth. It was just a long back to back birth with assisted delivery but so much better than my first.