hemorrhaging in labour (sorry-bit grim)

[vannah]

(please dont read if youre a worrier!)

My latest panick attack about impending labour (due in 6 weeks time) is that Im going to die. This is baby no.2 and I didnt have any fears about myself at all giving birth to DS1 (even though was a v difficult labour)

This time, my biggest fear is that something might happen to me, and I keep on panicking for my little toddler. I almost want to opt for a caesarean.

Ive read some stories, one about the woman at gt portland who bled to death after giving birth and another in a local paper.

What Im asking is, how will I know if Im haemorraging? (I can remember being left alone with ds1 soon after delivery and no one came to check on me) How can I find stats on this for the hospital Im at? (the doctors are being vague) Ive looked at birthchoice, but couldnt find any info.

Am I just being mad?
thankyou

Well possibly, just a little bit, yessss however your pregnant and we all get a bit bonkers when we're preggers, so your ok To be honest I think I worried a little bit with no2 as well, I think its natural.
I think you realise you have a problem, by the large amounts of blood coming out of you, including the clots. This is why the midwives keep you in the birthing suite for a while, before checking you and then moving you to a ward or another room/they don't let you straight out just in case of haemmorage. {{{{hugs}}}} and hth's? sure someone whose experience it will be along soon with the full facts, rather than my guesswork!
Hope your birth goes great

My friend haemoraged after birth. She said the blood went everywhere and she could hear it gushing on the floor. IMO you will know. Think you need to talk to your MW about your fears though.

BTW she lived through it after a short operation to sort it out.

I bled quite heavily, and not only was a MW posted in the recovery room with me, but a doctor was sent in to check the source of the bleeding. And this was a big busy hospital too. I was fine BTW.

I heamorraged quite badly after DD was born and had to have several blood transfusions to recover. They don't miss a real heamorrage - blood is pouring out of you. It usually happens stright after birth so lots of people are still around. Its not uncommon but I wouldn't worry too much about it - my doctors and midwives were very calm, they see it all the time and know exactly how to stop it. I had already had an epidural so I couldn't feel a thing. I just lay there and watched everyone running around and sorting it out. Once I had the transufusions I was fine again.

Its much more likely to happen if you are induced, have a huge baby or have an instrumental delivery. I had all 3. See if you can avoid induction.

Have not had chance to read all answers. But trust me you'd know. My placenta ruptured and not only was i in agony but oh my god the blood! Try not to worry too much.

if a woman dies of a PPH, it is most likely because she was negelected.. a PPH requires careful and intensive management , especially if it is a massive heamorrhage.

you will know, as blood will be literally pouring out of you, like a tap.

best thing i can recommend if this is a fear is to ask your birth partners not to leave you after the birth, so there is always someone with you until you are transferred to the PN ward.

it is perfectly normal to have irrational and morbid fears, especially if you have read something scary in the papers.

there won;t be stats re PPH or mortality rates on birth choice, but i would say, in the light of recent maternal deaths at certain hospitals, all trusts are super aware and sensitive about this issue.

i won;t tell you not to panic, but i will tell you that a PPH so big and so badly managed that you die, is very , very, very rare.

hope that helps a bit.

sorry for the hijack but I'm starting to have a similar (but milder at mo) worry about this - I really want a home birth for no. 2 but am scared about this... you all talk about how well it can be managed in hosp - what about at home? am I taking a huge risk?? (btw ds was perfect natural birth with 6 hr discharge...)

did you have a heamorrhage last time? if you do have a PPH at home, then MW can take steps to stem it, and most likely you will be blue lighted into hospital. at the very least you will be transferred. happened to my friend recently, homebirth, PPH, transfer in, all well, home 8 hours later.

as has been said, a big baby, long labour, instrumental delivery are big contributors to a PPH, a tired uterus cannot contract down as well.

it is normal to have worries, and of course they should be addressed, but home birth for a low risk birth is as safe as a hopsital bihrt.

Vannah - before leaving you to have a bit of bonding time with your baby the m/w should make sure that your uterus is firm and contracted and that you are not bleeding heavily.

Once your uterus is contracted it is very unlikely that you will start bleeding. Most problems occur when the uterus does not contract down after childbirth and the walls of the uterus can not press on each other (like how you'd put pressure on a cut to stop bleeding). If you were to bleed at this point there are a lot of things that can be done, drugs, even just rubbing the abdomen to stop the bleeding.

I would never want to have a baby at The Portland as I believe they don't have ICU facilities which wouldn't help in a situation like that.

I've only ever seen one serious PPH and like others have said you wouldn't miss it. The woman I saw was fine afterwards, walking about on the postnatal ward a few days later and the experienced m/w with me said it was the worst pph she'd ever seen (they thought she was going to die in theatre and its not normally that severe - she did have risk factors for a pph that were known when she was pg).

lulumama - no history of any complications - think I'm just getting scared like vannah about having to do it all again even though I truely believe I had a good birth last time - kind of feel I don't want to let myself down and not have same experience - stupid I know

thanks for info stripynickers, its reassuring to have more details

good luck vannah - I'm due in 9 weeks - hope everything goes well for you x

thankyou so much for all of your reassuring replies and especially the advice. I will ask my DH to stay with me and try really hard to avoid being induced (was last time) - epidural slowed everything right down.

Many thanks

Vannah,
I suffered a massive post partum haemorrage after the birth of my dd. I had an emergency cs and whilst I was being stiched up, they discovered I was bleeding. I was given a general and woke up the next day in intensive care. I recovered extremley quickly and they managed to save my uterus.
I am very worried about having another baby as the risk is highr if this has happened to you once already.
I went to see my consultant at the hospital to ask her opinion on second child. She recommended vb as cs increases the rick of haemorrage. I will be opting for a vbac.
What I am trying to say, very long winded, is that it does happen but the chances are extremley low. Talk to your doctor about your worries.

Good luck
x