Pregnant with a fibroid, do i have to have it removed

[Romilly70]

Hi,
I am 16weeks pg at the moment with DC#1
Obstetrician has found a massive fibroid, about 15cm x 10cm.

He has said that I need to have a c-section to deliver the baby. (As I am in France, I am wondering if he is being over cautious, but as I will be 40 on due date, I would rather do what is safer for baby.)

My main questions, however is, I would like a 2nd child and Obs has suggested i had the fibroid removed before TTC #2 but as I conceived #1 within 6 months, I am not sure if this is necessary or not.

Any views from anyone else who has had a fibroid and had it removed, or not and conceived would be much appreciated!!

I have a whopper of a fibroid - in my last pregnancy it grew to about 12cm.

Did the obstetrician say where it was? That's quite key. Mine, although enormous, didn't present a huge problem as it's on the outer wall of the uterus. I was under consultant care, was advised to have a hospital birth, but managed to labour normally. I had a canula inserted into my hand during labour, which was a precautionary measure - fibroids can cause post-partum haemorrhage and in my case they waited to see whether I was bleeding heavily and dealt with it by putting Syntometrine (? I think?) into the drip after the birth.

I was advised by consultant to have it removed before ttc but I read around and decided that, because of where mine is, the risk is minimal. Also, although very remote, the surgery could (in worst case scenario) result in emergency hysterectomy if blood loss was heavy, which seemed worse than the worst case scenarios with fibroids in pregnancy. Now pg with DS2, I saw the consultant at the beginning of my pregnancy and she conceded that I was right not to have the surgery, and has put me back to midwife care saying I'm 'more normal' than they thought I was

Hi BettyButterknife,
thanks for getting back to me.

My fibroid is at the top left of my uterus, I think it is inside, but I am not sure.
I think my obstetrician's reasons for c-section was that he felt that the contractions would not be strong enough to deliver the baby.

From what you have said, I guess the biggest risk is blood loss, as Obs said that he could not remove it at time of op as there would be too much blood.

However, i am just keen not to go through an unecessary ceaserean and / or fibroid removal op...