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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

Retained placenta - anaesthesia options

23 replies

Upalln1ght · 03/08/2020 12:22

Hello to all who have experienced a retained placenta before (and any midwives that might be reading!)

I had a retained placenta with my 1st baby, so I am at higher risk with my 2nd due later this year.

Did anyone go under general anaesthetic instead of having a spinal or epidural top-up (being awake throughout) to have the placenta removal?
If so, how long were you away from baby and when were you able to go home?

I'm really interested in GA option (huge anxiety about the procedure, last time I was completely unaware of what they were doing so didn't really worry).

I just can't find much to reassure me about what happens in recovery with a GA so soon after birth...

Thank you

OP posts:

cultkid · 03/08/2020 12:24

I would say have a spinal purely because you will have a long length of pain relief after it

I had a ga when my son was born and it was horrendously sore when I woke up

When my second son was born with a spinal I was pain free for honestly the entire day and Oramorph covered me for the next 24 hours xx

Original poster

Upalln1ght · 03/08/2020 14:38

@cultkid thank you that's really helpful. I had an epidural last time after a 3.5 day induction, so they just topped that up. If it does happen again perhaps I should go with spinal / epidural top-up and just take advantage of the gas and air on tap to take my mind off it.

It's making me so anxious and the alternative is a c-section, but with a very active toddler I really want to avoid the extended recovery time.

Thanks again for the reply

OP posts:

SockQueen · 03/08/2020 18:50

I work in obstetric anaesthetics. We would normally only suggest a GA for removal of placenta if there was a medical reason not to have a spinal/epidural top-up. We are also currently trying hard to minimise the number of GAs we do, as each one is an aerosol-generating procedure requiring extra PPE, higher risk to staff, extra time for cleaning etc. There is also a slightly higher risk of bleeding with a GA.

If a GA was done, then you'd usually be back with baby as soon as you're awake enough to leave theatre. My hospital doesn't have a "recovery" bay so you'd be woken in theatre and go to the post-op observation ward where your baby and partner would be waiting. If you have it done under spinal usually the baby can come to theatre with you. Wouldn't necessarily impact on the length of stay, though you might have more pain and nausea/vomiting than with a spinal.

So overall, I'd say have the spinal/epidural top-up, but nobody can force you to have that against your will.

Original poster

Upalln1ght · 04/08/2020 06:51

@SockQueen thank you so much for replying. That's interesting to know that baby may be able to stay with me in theatre, I'll ask the question when I have consultant appointment later down the line as that would definitely distract me!

Spinal does sound preferable with these reasons, even just for the pain relief in recovery.
Hopefully I'll be lucky that all goes well and I don't even have to worry about it this time 🤞🏻

OP posts:

SockQueen · 04/08/2020 17:25

Indeed, hopefully you won't need it, but no harm in being prepared!

It's not always standard to have the baby come into theatre with you but most places should allow it if you ask and the anaesthetist/midwife is happy.

20viona · 04/08/2020 22:24

OP please report back after your birth, I also had retained placenta removed under spinal and I'm terrified of it happening again. All the best.

Laaalaaaa · 04/08/2020 22:30

I had GA for mine but this was 9 days after birth as it wasn’t detected until I started passing huge clots of blood at home. Procedure done at lunchtime and discharged by tea time. Only pain I felt was in my throat from the breathing tube. When back in my room awaiting discharge I rejected the offer of an evening meal - until I noticed ice-cream on the trolley - helped soothe my throat

Justmuddlingalong · 04/08/2020 22:30

I huffed and puffed through labour on gas and air with DS3. The placenta wouldn't budge so it wasn't until that point that I got an epidural. 🙄 I was away for about 40 minutes, DH was able to wait with DS. This all happened early morning. I was able to leave hospital later the same afternoon.

Roseau18 · 04/08/2020 22:35

I had a retained placenta removed under GA as I hadn't had an epidural and they said a GA would work quicker. They brought the baby back to me as soon as I came round from the GA.
I had no particular side effects from the GA and recovered quicker than after the birth of my 1st child when the placenta came out normally but labour was much longer.

newtothenet · 04/08/2020 22:45

I had a retained placenta with my first daughter. I'd done the whole long birth only on gas and air then had to have a spinal for the removal. So with my second daughter I knew there was an increased chance of it happening again and opted for an epidural from from the start. If I was having drugs I might as well have them for the whole thing. Placenta not retained the second time round and everything went smoothly. Good luck! Even with an increased risk it's not inevitable it'll happen again.

Shinygoldbauble · 04/08/2020 22:53

I had a retained placenta after first birth. I did not have an epidural. My labour was very short and the birth happened very quickly which I think can contribute. I had it removed under General anaesthetic. I don't remember being particularly sore afterwards but it was my first birth so I had nothing to compare it to.
DH stayed with the baby while I was in theatre. I have no idea how long I was gone.
As it turned out my second labour was even faster. I totally forgot about the placenta but this time it came out perfectly.

Spanglebangle · 04/08/2020 23:04

I had a spinal to remove retained placenta after dc1. Dc2 placenta popped out no problems.

threeormorecharacters · 04/08/2020 23:21

I had a retained placenta after both births. Second one was more difficult (the placenta did not 'come quietly', so to speak). Both times I had a spinal for it, having just had gas and air for the births. Personally I preferred being awake for the procedures, but then I'm not squeamish and find medical stuff quite interesting, plus I felt awful for days the only time I had a GA (for something entirely different). It sounds awful, but I wasn't terribly bothered about being away from DS2 for an hour or so - he just stayed with DH. It was much harder leaving DS1 the first time, as it all came as a bit of a surprise that I had to go to theatre (not least to DH, who'd never held a baby before and was by all accounts handed a newborn and a babygro and told to get on with it ). But I was told I was quite unlucky to have it happen twice, so hopefully you should have no problems.

00deed1988 · 04/08/2020 23:24

Pretty much exactly what @SockQueen said. I am a midwife who also had a retained placenta myself so seen both sides.

Baby being with you depends on the hospital. I have worked at 2 hospitals but the same trust, if having a spinal, in 1 the baby can go to theatre the other they can't.

Even with a GA you have baby back the same time as you would with a spinal but you may not be feeling quite as alert and may still be drowsy. But you will more than likely be mobile much quicker with a GA over a spinal.

I spoke to the anesthetist at my hospital about having a GA if it happened again as it was really traumatic last time and they said that it wouldn't be recommended as it is much more high risk unless actively bleeding and unable to site the spinal quick enough. They had 5 attempts lasting about 60 minutes I was getting some block but not all of it, it was pretty horrific and the worst part of my whole experience. I now suspect I have a condition that means the drugs used may not be effective as I have other symptoms so would need to be referred to an anesthetist if I have another to discuss the options officially.

But if you can, I would say spinal is the best option. If I remember the figures correctly I think you have a 75% chance of the placenta coming away on its own so fingers crossed for you!

Original poster

Upalln1ght · 05/08/2020 08:32

Thank you everyone for all the replies.
I'm sorry to hear you all had to have this too, but it is reassuring to know I'm not the only one that found it hard. It's not very easy to find information about it all and I don't know anyone in real life that quite understands my anxieties.

If it does happen again I'm leaning more towards spinal (or epidural top-up if I have one) having read your experiences.

I'll update the thread in a couple of months once I've had baby - hopefully it will be good news that all delivered as it should!

OP posts:

Amelia891 · 05/08/2020 16:56

Hi, not sure if my situation was different as it took them 7 weeks to realise I had some retained placenta but I had a D&C under GA, I wasn’t ever given the choice of a spinal. I had to go in at 7am, had the op a few hours later and my husband and baby came to collect me later that day. I was not allowed to breastfeed for 24 hours (luckily she took a bottle and I pumped) but apart from that it was very straightforward. I was terrified I would be in pain having only just recovered from the episiotomy during the birth but I had no soreness at all. Good Luck x

Original poster

Upalln1ght · 06/08/2020 14:08

@Amelia891 thank you for your reply and sorry you had to go through that after 7 weeks! Glad it went Ok :)

OP posts:

MummyItsallaboutyou · 06/08/2020 14:14

I had my placenta removed under emergency GA as I think my heart rate suddenly dropped while trying to put in the spinal block. I was discharged the following day (I think)!! After care was piss poor. I lost 2 litres of blood and they didn't think to give me iron tablets! It also took about 6 hours for them to remove my placenta.

I was told I wasn't under increased risk of it happening again. My placenta with DC2 came out whole with no problems.

perfumeistooexpensive · 06/08/2020 14:48

I had mine removed with gas and air in the delivery room. The doctor just shoved his hand inside me and pulled, gleefully showing me the membranes and placenta. I lost a lot of blood. With the next two everything came away as it should. How things have changed since the 70s!

Original poster

Upalln1ght · 09/08/2020 21:38

@MummyItsallaboutyou it's so scary to go through all of that when it's 1st baby, so pleased 2nd time it came out fine!

@perfumeistooexpensive yikes! Poor you, yes so good that things have changed.

Thanks for your replies x

OP posts:

FluffyPurpleSlippers · 10/08/2020 08:40

I transferred in after a home birth for a retained placenta. The anaesthetist was keen to manually removed without pain relief, myself and the midwives must have greeted her with massive scowls because I was then prepped for theatre and had a spinal block. All was well. I was catheterised in theatre after the spinal, recommend that too! Baby could come in if I wanted but instead my mum who drove my dh in sat and cuddled her new dgs and Dh cake and sat with me in theatre. Happily this meant stitches under spinal too.

CornedBeef451 · 10/08/2020 08:47

I had retained placenta removed under a spinal block twice and it was fine, a bit weird but fine.

It might have happened twice actually, first one was a forceps delivery in theatre with lots of massaging and rummaging afterwards although I couldn't feel it, just felt being moved about.

Second was actual emergency c section followed by further rummaging and a lot of blood loss. Again it was weird but I didn't feel anything and the drugs afterwards were really good, not much pain after the first couple of days and back to paracetamol after about 4 days.

JurassicShay · 11/08/2020 11:41

I had a retained placenta with dc2, emergency under GA. They tried to remove it manually but I lost consciousness due to too much blood loss. 2.4litres!! I spent days in HDU as I also had a bad reaction to the GA & stopped breathing. (Suspected malignant hypothermia)

Not sure how long I was away from baby, I think it was the next day when I woke properly. It's in my notes I woke from the GA & pulled the tube out my throat & shouted where's my baby but promptly fell back to sleep

They syringe fed him as they knew I wanted to breast feed.

Next 2 dc had normal delivery's.

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