Pregnant again after having a premmie. Any advice welcom

[mrsv2]

Just found out that i am pregnant again. DD is 10months old and was born suddenly at 29weeks after a straightforward pregnancy. Obviously now feeling anxious that the same thing may happen again. Any advice and any personal experiences would be much appreciated.

Hope all goes well with your pregnancy.

DS was 6 weeks early, but my consultant said that there didn't seem to be any reason for that and it was just one of those random things.
Hopefully that's the case for you too, but if there was a reason found for your DD being early, I'd expect them to be keeping a closer eye on any subsequent pregancies.

There is a premature births section (I think it's under Being a Parent??) - that may be a good place to look for personal experiences and advice.

thank you boohome, there was no reason that i have been told i just had a SROM and she arrived 24hrs later. Going to GP tomorrow as we have moved areas since DD was born so new Drs and hospitals. Will see if i can find a premmie section.

Good luck! My dd was born at 32wks with no obvious reason, lots of possibles but the cause was never identified. I'm 20wks pg now and tbh it is a worry - I haven't bought anything for the baby yet (had a bleed at 17wks and am feeling pessimistic about it) but worrying that we will be unprepared....

I am having more scans than normal to make sure it is progressing as it should be, although my next isn't until 29wks. Consultant has pretty much said 'don't make any plans after 30wks' and I am having steroids then just in case. I'm sure your Drs and mws are on the ball so just speak to them about your worries and they will make sure you are looked after x

I had my first at 31 weeks due to srom - labour 2 days later and no cause identified. Have just had my second at 38 weeks after being convinced she would come early too.

Main things I would say - insist on attentive antenatal care as much for your own peace of mind as anything. One hospital told me they wouldn't do much extra monitoring but just to come in if i thought there was a problem. I was a bit too worried to think that was enough (one of my problems being that I hate making a fuss - didn't get checked first pregnancy even though I thought I might have a bit of water leak) so went to a different hospital that had a preterm antenatal clinic for people who are more likely to have a preterm birth and they were much better for me - there are tests they can do to check if preterm labour is more likely such as scanning your cervical length and the fibronectin test and a lot of hospitals don't do this unless you ask for it. That way you only get given steroids if early birth is likely so I didn't have them in the end (my consultant also was one of those who doesn't like giving them due to other effects of them - but doctors I have met seem 50/50 on the benefits vs risks).

Lots of luck with this pregnancy, hope all goes well

Same sort of thing here - 33 weeks for first, no reason found - second perfectly normal at just over 38 weeks. Had consultant care with second pregnancy, but this consisted of them meeting me occasionally, and saying, well, we don't know why your first came early so there's nothing active we can do. And sure enough it all worked out ok. Try not to worry!

Nicecupoftea is right - less monitoring than I had is bound to be fine, I'm just neurotic and found it helped. I don't think the outcome would have been any different. Didn't want to worry you x

Thanks everyone..... Since DD was born we have moved house so completely new area, new team, new hospital so have no idea what to expect...... I guess I will wait to see what we are offered but extra scans won't stop a srom..... I had a perfect scan 5 days before DD was born :-) at least this time I won't have the stresses of work as I will be SAHM as I feel that was a huge factor in my early birth.

Hi,
Just to add another positive story
DC1 born very unexpectedly at 33 weeks. No idea why it happened but was offered extra appts, scans etc when pregnant with DC2.
DC2 born at 42 weeks. Little monkey wouldn't shift!

Best of luck and hope you enjoy an uneventful and long pregnancy.

glad to hear so many positive stories, the logistics of a preemie and a 16month old ( if baby 2 born at same time as DD1) just feels unmanageable. Im not so scared of the outcome as my 2lb9oz 29weeker is a 23lb ( 91st centile) chubster at 10months with no problems whatsoever. I think its just the logistics of managing visits, the stress, caring for another child and everything that goes with having a baby in SCBU. But i guess we would cope as we would have to.

while nowhere near as early as others on the thread, DS was born at 36 weeks (contractions started at 35+5, had PROM at 36). I was born at 32 weeks and most babies from my side of the family have been early.

I'm now 40+4 with DC2 and impatiently waiting... I thought we'd have a xmas baby, but looks like a February one instead :)