How was your 2nd labour if you had heavy blood loss during your first labour?

[HotChocolateAndMarshmellows]

Hello everyone,

I have an 11 month old baby and I'm currently in my first trimester of pregnancy with my second.

I had a horrible labour with my first, it lasted 24 hours, ended up with a forceps delivery and a 2.1 litre blood loss. I was very poorly afterwards.

I'm now worried I will experience the same during my second labour.

Does anyone of you have experience? Did you have a large blood loss during your first labour and how did your second labour go?

Did you experience another large blood loss?

Thanks x

I had a forceps delivery with my first and quite a bit of blood loss but second I had an unassisted delivery with minimal blood loss. They were aware of my history though and I had a cannula in just in case. Hope that's helps. Good luck and congratulations

Long labours can cause haemorrhage because basically the uterine muscles get 'tired' and dont contract efficiently after placental delivery to clamp all the blood vessels off. It sounds like this was the case for you. 2nd labours are often shorter. You will also be encouraged to have an IV sited so they can quickly administer fluids or drugs in case of it next time.

I've asked my midwife and consultant about the change of a PPH second time if you had one the first and they both said it very much depends on the reason for it. They explained that if you've had a PPH in the past they will have an IV in ready to help keep your uterus contracting to try and prevent it happening again

I haven't ever had a heavy blood loss but i have had the drip to make uterus contract twice after birth as a precaution (have had 6 babies) and it was fine both times the worst bit was having the cannula in as i kept knocking it