Placenta abruption/infection

[LM88]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone can offer any support/help/positive stories.

Had a miscarriage at 19 weeks, gave birth to my gorgeous little girl.

Everything pointed toward incompetent cervix, due to difficult previous labour.

Had my debrief today - appears it was placenta coming away from uterus nobody can confirm why.

want to TTC - worried, nervous, anxious. Everything!

Dont really know what I want by posting. Just a hand hold maybe x

Sorry to hear about your little girl 💐

I don't have advice regarding TTC after your experience unfortunately but I have just went through similar - 16 weeks 4 days my little girl was born.

No reason as to why yet, may never get a reason.

If it's not too sore to discuss I wonder if you could share your experience with me?

@OnNaturesCourse of course! PM me, so sorry for your loss! Its the worst isnt it!

You will get a debrief at some point that may give you some answers ❤️🤞 x

I have my appointment on Monday as we lost out little girl at 16 weeks in April, currently 5 weeks pregnant (very irresponsible of me) but I am terrified what the outcome will be, I had an infection of some kind definitely but also my uterus was full of clots so I have no idea what the cause was, hoping we will have some answers Monday! Did they mention anything in the appointment about future pregnancies? It’s nice to know we are not alone.

@Hampstead16
Aw! Congratulations ❤️ Positive thinking - easier said than done, I know!

Is this your debrief appointment or just an appointment regarding your pregnancy?

They said I would be on aspirin as soon as I found out and then regular checks/scans.

They did mention I would have routine checks on my cervix throughout and a stitch would be required if it began opening (a possibility due to my first difficult labour) but that wasnt the cause this time which I was suprised by!

It is just unfortunate they dont actually know why it happens and no guarantees next time, just one of those things unfortunately.

I will receive a letter following up from the debrief of what was discussed and findings. I also asked for a copy of the pathology report from the placenta tests.

Let me know how it goes, i will be thinking of you! Xx

@LM88 its the debrief appointment, we have waited 12 weeks for it which is quick looking at some posts some people had to wait 6 months!

my bereavement midwife mentioned aspirin to me for the next pregnancy, I was on it in my first pregnancy but not my second! I know you just want someone to say it 100% won’t happen again but they never can I suppose! I will keep you posted regarding my appointment Monday 🤞🏻 wishing you all the luck in the future xx

@Hampstead16 yeah, mine was 12 weeks too! Let me know what they say, if you dont mind sharing!

Good Luck to you in this pregnancy, everything will be fine! I hope I am not too far behind you xx

Got everything crossed for you and I will let you know how it goes 🤞🏻 xx

Just coming on to send some love. We lost a little one in the second trimester too. It really is hard.

I've no real advice but I will say I spent a lot of time trying to convince dh to try again with no real thought as to how I'd feel when I got pregnant again. I'm now at the same stage I was when I lost my last baby and I really don't think I'm coping. I seem to be living my life convinced it's going to happen again. I keep telling myself that once I get to 24 weeks I'll relax a bit but god knows if I actually will. I haven't gone to the toilet without checking for bleeding since March!

Also I was told that if we were to try again we'd get extra monitoring etc. so far that hasn't transpired at all.

@ohfook so sorry for your loss. Did you get any answers or reasons in your debrief?

Dont get me wrong I would be both terrified and happy if i got pregnant again. Theres so much information to take in and big decisions to make.

You will be fine but I get it, you wont rest until they are in your arms ❤️ Xx

I had a severe placental abruption 2 years ago. Thankfully it didn't happen until 40 weeks and we got to hospital so quickly that they managed to save DS by knocking me out and doing a crash section so even though it was extremely traumatic count myself as one of the lucky ones.

They couldn't give me a reason why it happened either which is really frustrating, basically said I had none of the risk factors and it was just really bad luck. Currently 12 weeks pregnant with #2 and have been told that while the chance of it happening again at any point during this pregnancy is higher than the chance in the general population who haven't had one before the risk is still actually very low so trying to stay positive.

So sorry to hear about your losses

@LM88 they weren't able to give us a definite answer but were able to make an educated guess. At the time that wasn't good enough for me. I basically wanted them to say it was because of X but you can take these tablets to ensure itself never ever happen again.

@LM88 had my debrief today, bit of a let down really.. The placenta came back with nothing wrong with it, initially they thought I had an infection but all blood cultures, bloods and swabs came back with no signs of infection, all chromosomes testing came back with concerns and it came back that she was definitely a baby girl. The consultant said in her opinion it was placental abruption however they don’t usually use that term before 24 weeks. She said she that the placenta likely has come away and caused bleeding in my uterus hence all the pain. She’s more inclined to think of abruption over cervical incompetence because that is usually a painless labour whereas I had a lot of pain and she said I had fully contracted however she cannot rule it out. So this pregnancy I’ll be on aspirin from 11 weeks, bloods are being taken for ‘sticky blood’ testing on Wednesday and if they come back positive I’ll need tinzaparin injections for the pregnancy, I’m getting an early scan at 8 weeks for reassurance the normal 12 week scan, a scan at 14 weeks to check measurements of my cervix and I’ll have them frequently throughout, then potentially more scans as well being high dependency xx

@Hampstead16 I need to wait until I get my written notes back to see what the actually call it - but my placenta did show issues.

I take it u didnt get a reason why?

Yeah, mine said similiar in terms of the pain and the bleeding. She did say if I were to get pregnant again they would still monitor the cervix anyway due to my previous birth but this was the abruption. I cant wait to get my notes as some parts of the conversation are blurry now! 🙈

How are you feeling yourself in this pregnancy? I was ill from the very beginning whereas with my first I wasnt. Really different pregnancy.

That is so good that you are being monitored so much and obviously you know your own body - Keep us updated would be fab to hear all about your rainbow baby. xx

Sorry the chromosomes were fine, I missed a word out - I’d also had a NIPT test which came back low risk due to an increased risk on the screening test at 12 weeks.

I was the same felt utterly horrendous the whole way through but my screening came back increased risk for Down’s syndrome due to high HCG levels and when I looked into that it said it usually made your symptoms worse, I was really tired and felt sick all day unless I ate! It also said that high HCG levels had poor foetal outcomes so it’s making me think perhaps there was an issue with the way it’s implanted! Had no symptoms with my son at all, but then I thought these symptoms were because the baby was a girl.

Fingers crossed we get our rainbow baby, I just can’t seem to get it out of my head that we will never take home a baby. It’s an awful feeling ☹️ xx

@Hampstead16 I totally understand how you feel. We do want another baby but obviously this has just made me question everything - like how long will it take, will i get pregnant at all etc!

Your mind is a dangerous thing isnt it if you let it run away with your thoughts. If i did get pregnant, I would be terrified the whole way through. I did also think, if it was the cervix a stitch is a supoort mechanism. Now, with this - there is nothing they can do other than aspirin and regular checks just adds to your anxiety.

You have made contact and they will stay in regular touch with you so just keep doing what you are doing! ❤️ X

Yes, they mentioned a stitch to me but they said if you bleed they have to remove it and I will bleed, I bled the whole way through with my son and on and off with our little girl too.. but I was on aspirin with my son so I’m holding out for it working this time around!

I was afraid of both a positive and negative test, I test each time my period came around despite their being a low risk of being pregnant we had one irresponsible night so thought it would be unlikely I’d get a positive but low and behold their it was in black and white ‘pregnant’ 😅 I feel quite detached at the minute I think it’s to keep my feelings safe.

It’s a horrible feeling but you will conceive again and you will be looked after, that’s the reassuring part of it all. You will have your rainbow baby!xx

I had a placenta abruption at 32 weeks after weeks of bleeding; I was in hospital at the time so I had a different outcome. However my next pregnancy I was terrified as I knew how dangerous it could be but they told me that there is 10% chance of it happening again which means a 90% chance that it will be ok. They don’t know why it happened in my first pregnancy but it was all fine in my second one and I really did hold onto that 90% chance.

My experience is very similar to Bimbleb. The histology on my placenta suggested undiagnosed pre eclampsia causing the abruption. My second pregnancy I was on aspirin and higher strength folic acid with more scans and a c section booked in for 39 weeks, or once labour started if before. This was all talked through at the debrief and added to my notes. I did not have an abruption with my second child (or pre eclampsia).

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Hello @LM88 @Hampstead16 sorry to drag up an old thread.

I lost my beautiful little boy at 19 weeks in September and we still haven't had our review yet, but we did get copies of the results. No infections, illnesses, abnormalities or concerns from any of the blood tests, urine tests, cultures and swabs. Cord and baby were also perfect.

They did find a blood clot and some inflammation in my placenta, but say it's still a mystery as they can't see anything that could have caused it. The blood clot was on the maternal side, not the internal placenta, and I never had a single drop of bleeding throughout the entire pregnancy.

I just wanted to ask, if it's okay, whether you ever got any answers, or whether you went on to have successful pregnancies? I ask because I've recently found out I'm pregnant again, and I'm absolutely terrified. I've had two early losses previously, but I fear another second trimester loss (or third!) even more. I feel as though I'm just waiting to get to 16 weeks for it all to go wrong. At 16 weeks, I started to get horrific pains in my bladder when I tried to pee, but there were no UTIs, infections or anything at all found to cause it.

I search every single day for similar stories and I find so few.

Hi @KittyFantastica
So sorry to hear about your gorgeous little boy, hope you are doing as well as can be. Sending lots of love.

My story is eventful to say the least and I hope this doesnt worry you/upset you. My journey has been complex and maybe different to yours.

Firstly, it is so hard when you dont get a definitive answer, the unknown is hard to deal with. So following on from the placenta abruption. They thought it may have had something to do with complications with my first pregnancy. I was advised if i was to fall pregnant again, a cervical stitch may be an option and that I would be under consultant care throughout.

Fast forward, I fell pregnant and was closely monitored weekly & given medication to support it. I had cervix length checks continually. Scans showed it was shortening as the weeks passed but was still within normal range and all was fine however during one scan at 16 or so weeks, a huge scar could be seen on my cervix (from my first c section labour) this could now be seen as my skin was stretching.

A decision was made to give me two cervical stitches to attempt to prolong the pregnancy. At 23 weeks, my waters broke. They had no choice but to remove the stitches as this increases infection risk. I was transferred to a hospital with a NICU. I remained an inpatient. At 24+3 weeks, I had an emergency c section and my little girl was born. She spent 99 days in NICU! She is a thriving, beautiful little girl ♥️

Apologies for the big story but I think the background is important.

If you are hoping to get pregnant again, ask about cyclogest pessaries, aspirin and to be seen by FMU (fetal medicine unit) to monitor you from early on. Ask for consultant led care from when you are pregnant. See what gets said at the review, they should discuss what they would do for you in the future.

Message me if you need anything else.
sending you lots of love - good luck with everything x

Sorry @KittyFantastica I re-read and seen you are already pregnant, which is amazing! Congratulations!

I was anxious the whole time so you may find you are more tense but please reach out and ask for that additional support from
staff to closely monitor you.

x

Hi @LM88 Thank you so much for kindly explaining such a traumatic time for you. I'm so sorry you've been through so much, your strength is incredible.

My hospital does have a pre-term birth consultant, and I have been added to her book of patients. They have given me cyclogest and may start aspirin from 12 weeks. They will also do cervical length scans, but will only start them from 16 weeks and will only do them every 2 weeks until 24. We spoke with a Tommy's consultant and he recommended having scans every week as changes can happen so fast, and to go private for them if the hospital won't agree to weekly scans. He also said I'd need scans of my bladder and potentially be to taught to self cathetsrise, but the scary part about it is that we just don't know which element set off labour, and once things started happening last time, it happened very quickly.

I really appreciate your response and I'm so happy you have your beautiful, thriving baby girl. It does give me hope ❤️ So few people seem to have gone through this with definite cause, I can't believe they don't do more checks between 12-20 weeks to catch stuff like this. I raised concerns to three different services (community midwife, GP and triage) and was told nothing was wrong by all three without ever having been examined. Two weeks later, I'd given birth.

Hi @KittyFantastica we had out meeting with the consultant around 16 weeks after. We had only allowed testing on the placenta not our baby and the results came back as totally normal so it was unexplainable, they thought we had placenta abruption but can’t call it this before 24 weeks but they think the placenta started coming away. They ruled out an infection that caused it but couldn’t rule out cervical incompetence, so they said we needed cervical scan every 2 weeks until I think it was 26 weeks. When I attended the appointment I had found out I was pregnant the day before (I was terrified) so we had cervical screenings from 14 weeks which isn’t the normal protocol but my my consultant was really lovely and think she knew how stressed out I was. Currently looking at my gorgeous nearly 11month old as I write this. It’s the most horrific thing to ever happen and it’s not very common in the second trimester so I feel like it’s hard to explain why you feel so crushed. But all is not lost, it gets better. I still think about it every single day but it gets easier. Sending you a happy healthy pregnancy ♥️ (had to create a new username to post)