Is 1000ml a lot to lose in a post-partum haemorrhage?

[artichokes]

I ask because that is how much I lost. I thought it was alot and I needed transfusions but today my GP said it was not a big haemorrhage. Have I been overplaying how bad it was?

With my first baby i blacked out in the toilets about 7 hrs after giving birth, i got very told off as i was told not to move from the bed becasue of the amount of blood i lost, but i felt ok lying down so i thought they were over-reacting..big mistake by me. I had to spend another 24hrs in bed and awaited a blood test to see if i needed a transfusion..i just scraped past without one!

With 2nd baby i had a PPH (thats what they called it) a few hours after giving birth. I went to the loo, stood up afterwards and a i passed a HUGE clot....it was like a massive blackcurrant jelly....it splatted on the floor and blood was splattered all up the walls and ceiling..it was horrendous....i had to stay in bed again.

3rd and 4th baby i had to have the drip on after giving birth to shrink my uterus down to size (that was horrible)

2 sets of twins i had to have c-sections becasue of the amount of blood i loose (and other reasons)

Don;t know anything about the amounts per ml though.

It doesnt go by how much you lost but your blood results after will show if you need a transfusion or not.
Its your Hb score that matters.

I lost loads (at least 1000mls) 2 weeks after birth and was rushed back into hospital - blue light fast ambulance! Very scary and very painful.
Blood pressure on arrival was 80/40!
Pulse 180.

They didnt transfuse me because they prefer not to unless totally necessary - lack of blood in blood banks.
They stopped the bleed (back to theatre again) and gave me iron tablets.

connortraceptive APH can often be placental, definitely worth checking out why you had a bleed......

All they put on my discharge was APH, local cause. No idea what that means though..

i had a transfusion after pph after dd2. My iron level was 3...they refused to let me out of bed...

Whilst pg with dd3 my blood presure was regularly 70/30...

Think of it in terms of a coke bottle for instance and its a huge amount but bear in mind your blood volume increases dramatically during pregnancy (is it by a third?) and its probably not so bad.

I had 3 pph's 700, 1300, 1200 which the consultant said is quite rare but I didn't need a transfusion - I think my blood count was good before the birth. Just had iron tablets and felt quite weak and fragile for a few weeks.

I have read that most women can lose 1500ml without too much effect on health. I also read that it can impact on milk supply (sure many experts who could comment on that). I had great difficulties with breastfeeding each time, sure a pph can't help

I lost 2 litres but didn't feel too bad - my Hb was 6.3 though so they talked me into 3 units of blood 3 days after the birth cos I wasn't making any milk to speak of (my poor lo!). I was told it would come back up ok in 6 months if i took iron tablets but I'd feel too weak to deal properly with DS - and they were probably right!

interesting to read that it can impact on milk supply, makes me feel a bit better
I really really wanted to exclusively breastfeed and was so proud when I came home from hospital because all the way through baby being in scbu and me being in icu she was brought to me to feed and never had anything other than breastmilk.... then when she was 3 weeks old she was still nowhere near her birth weight, wanted to feed all the time and I was exhausted so we gave her formula top ups. Now, I know this was the right thing but still sometimes feel weirdly guilty about it (even though she was back being exclusively breastfed by 6 weeks old) but maybe I just wasn't making enough milk because of the PPH??

I'm oddly reassured by all these stories of pph/aph ??? It's my biggest fear about this next birth but obviously not all that uncommon.

glad it has helped

just knowing you are not the only one is a big help, no?

Yes it is a big help. Cleary it happens and most people recover just fine, so even if it happens again there is no reason why I won't be fine in the long run just like last time.

Thank you

Funny about the attitudes of mid-wives / GP's about this as I've had the same experience as some of you. I had an APH with my first that resulted in him being induced and a PPH with my second when I lost 6 pints (sorry dont know it in litres . I had a transfusion then and was keen to know if I was likely to bleed again. When I asked they looked at me like I was worrying over nothing. But the PPH scared me and scared DH more. Anyway third time the birth was great (except for the placenta being stuck ). but I dont think we'll tempt fate again.

I had a 1000ml+ pph after 1#, but I was in a midwife unit and they had told me after a pain relief free huge first baby I was more than able to have and active 3rd stage (which despite doing NCT I'd never heard of).

I passed out in the loo (on my own) 30 mins afterbirth. They gave me the oxytocin/syntrometrine jab 1 hour pp. I also had a near 3rd degree tear which they deemed unecessary to repair (had to have surgery under GA 11 weeks later). With hindsight, I should have been transferred to a hospital.

I'm a very fit regular blood donor with a very high pain threashold (once continued a X-country course on my horse with a broken clavicle) and it completely floored me. I could not get up from bed unassisted for nearly 2 days, I was passing huge clots, I contracted Group B Strep and was seriously ill (due to retained placenta) and wasn't ever given an iron level check or iron tablets - I was ill/tired for many months and it (the lack of post natal care)really put me off having a second.

I had #2 nearly 5 yrs later (told you it put me off!)and the difference was amazing (diff hosp)! I was told if I passed a clot bigger than a lemon(?) I was to pull the red cord to show someone I was on ordianry pads after a few days and liners after 10 days - not the weeks of heavy bleeding as previous.

One thing was I had an undiagnosed hypothyroidism, which can cause pph - perhaps you could ask for a few tests to put your mind at rest.

Hi
with my 2nd baby I dont know how much I lost but my hb was 6 after....apparantly I refused a blood transfusion....
I do remember a lady coming in the room with a mop and bucket and saying...."oh dear it's like chainsaw massacre in here"
I had to take iron tablets for about 6 months after and felt horrendous.My daughter had terrible colic and I ended up with PND too.
I had my 3rd baby by emergency section ,but blood loss was ok.
I am now suffering from anaemia again,due to heavy periods and have been taking iron for months and Mefamenic Acid {to lessen my period}.I do feel better though on the iron....though they have taken months to kick in,because each period was making me weaker and weaker.
Apparantly it takes a month of iron for your count to go up by 1 so I make sure I dont forget them.
I,ve heard drinking Spatone {water with added iron} is good and eating carob ?
I,ve also been trying to stuff more veg down me....although I like sprouts,I,m getting fed up with them....
the kids are sick of the smell too!!!

My PPH was 2100ml and I had 3 units of blood tranfused. It took a couple of weeks to get my strength back.

I was told you are more likely to have another PPH if you have had one already so am prepared.

during my recent el c/s I lost 500ml during the section & another 1750ml in the 4hrs that followed, making 2250ml lost in total. Almost ended up back in theatre to be opened up again under a GA, but just managed to escape it thank goodness...

Luckily my iron was 11.8 when it was checked a few days before el c/s, went down to 8.3, but they didn't give me a blood transfusion, just iron tablets (although I had "4 units cross-matched" just in case - it was like being on Casualty - pretty scary at the time though)

DS is 2wks 1 day today, and I'm still feeling a bit rough, recovery has been much slower than my em c/s first time round, not sure how much of that is due to the PPH though.

I lost 3 litres during emergency c/s and had two blood transfusions, It still haunts me now especially trying for dc3, I try fail not to think about it too much. I remember being envious of the poor woman in the next bed because she had lost 2500ml and had the strength to pick her baby up, something I couldn't do for days.

In awnser to the op yes yours was a lot, I was told anything over 500ml is a lot and 1000ml or over very very rare.

Don't know how much I lost but I can remember feeling as if I wasn't really there and hearing an almighty woosh like a waterfall! DH calmly said "don't worry the tap has just broken"
Then everything went black, lost a couple of hours then woke up feeling like shit but very very happy. I refused a transfusion and a student mv hounded me to change my mind (she seemed to have the consent form welded to her hand, every time I saw her) only agreed to it when she glared at me saying "If you don't have this blood, you will be in here for days and days!!!!" I just wanted out so I agreed.

I have only just seen that this thread is still going. The general consensus seems to be that 1000ml is a reasonable PPH but not the worst and anyway it is pretty hard for them to be accurate when estimting blood loss. I haev to say that the thought of another PPH and set of transfusions is pretty off putting but if I get anoth DC like DD it will be worth it .

I had what was estimated as a 2000ml loss , although my midwife says it is nearly always underestimated.

My Hb dropped from 8.9 (I'd had it tested the day I went into labour) to 4.7 two days later. Despite being transfused (two units) it took a year to get make to >11 & I felt like absolute shit.

I lost (according to the MWs and dh - I noticed nothing as I was flat on my back with epidural and ventouse) 'a lot' of blood with ds1, was told off for getting up the next day and had a pretty low Hb. And felt fine , apart from a BP crash and passing out briefly about 20 mins after the birth. Had no pph after ds2 and recovered really well.

i lost 750ml apparently, my midwife says i should have been given a transfusion, when i was pregnant with ds they hosp were meant to have blood on standby from when i labour started, fortunatly i didnt need it cos they never read my notes and they had no idea what i was on about when i asked if i'd heamorraged after i had ds

I lost over 3litres after having ds, passed out for over an hour and could hardly lift ds after, although he was quite a big baby. Had 3 transfusions as hb was 1.2 after and only went up to 4 a week later when I left hosp after hiding regular cripling back and chest cramps from the nurses, I was desp to go home Still meant to be taking iron tablets but sure they make ds windy so stopped taking them and seem to be ok, being tired is part of the course is it not?!

I had an elective and they said I lost 1400mls. But I am confused as to where this blood comes from. Surely not out of the wound? Or is it after they remove the placenta or what? Or a combination. Nobody really said anything other than "oh you lost quite a bit of blood" so I assumed that 1400mls wasn't much. Gawd, I have no idea.

What I do know is that the next day, the effort of having a shower left me breathless and grey round the gills.

I exclusively breastfed ds but he didn't regain birthweight for almost three weeks, now I see that maybe the blood loss was a factor in this.