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Placenta fragment retained for over a year

post #1 of 6
Thread Starter 
Hi,

I can't find any info out about this. When I gave birth to my son (3rd child, home water birth) over a year ago, his delivery went very easily but then I couldn't deliver the placenta. My midwife (actually, a doctor) said the placenta had attached in several places and he had to do a manual placenta extraction. Soon after that, I began to bleed a lot and passed out. I ended up being ok, although I opted not to go the hospital for a blood transfusion and was weak for 2 weeks afterward. I also had a LOT of excessive amniotic fluid (cause unknown) while pregnant, don't know it that is related. Although I was breastfeeding, I continued to bleed (less and less) almost until I got my 1st period again, when my son was about 7 months old. I wanted to breastfeed for at least a year but had to give it up at 10 months because my son wasn't gaining any weight due to my lack of breast milk. Anyway, a year after his birth, I started taking birth control pills to control my raging PMS. I bled the whole time I was on them so I stopped taking them. My doctor put me on a lower dose pill but that did nothing for my mood swings. He put me back on the higher dose and I started bleeding again on the 2nd day of taking them. The 3rd day was heavy and I was wearing a tampon. When I went to pee, I was shocked to find what looked like placenta in my underwear. It was much larger than a quarter (chicken egg sized). I called my Dr., who told me to put it in water to see if it dissipated and was really a clot. Nope, solid tissue. He says it probably was a piece of my placenta and not to worry about it but I am still bleeding as much as I would for a heavy period (it has been 2 days) and am passing small clots. Should I be worried? I can find info on retained placenta, but nothing retained this long after birth. Sorry this is so long, just wanted to give all the info I have because I'm really hoping someone knows something about this. Thank you!

jellob3p0
post #2 of 6
My retained placenta was discovered at about 3 months pp, not as long as yours. My OB did a d&c to get it all out ... perhaps your doctor can do something about this for you??

My supply was impacted by my retained placenta too. I'm sorry that you struggled with the same thing. If it is any comfort at all, I did not have retained placenta with my next pregnancy.
post #3 of 6
I have never heard of placenta being retained for so long but, as you are still bleeding, it really sounds like you may need a D&C to remove any fragments still left.
post #4 of 6
I would be unhappy with any doctor who told me "not to worry about it" when I'd just passed placenta A YEAR after my baby was born. I think you need to get checked and possibly find a new doctor.

I, too, had retained placenta, but only for 10 weeks, that impacted my milk suppy. That is sooo tough

ETA: I also had a really hard time finding any information on retention past a week pp.
post #5 of 6
Thread Starter 
Thank you for the advice. I will look into getting a d&c as soon as possible, I'm concerned about the possibility of hemmoraging or something otherwise. So no one else has retained placenta this long? That's kind of disturbing to me.
post #6 of 6
I should add, my OB had the stuff he extracted with the d&c tested by a lab to see what it was; he was worried about cysts or etc. So the lab test confirmed placental tissue.

I do agree, you may want to see about a second opinion or etc., as this is a very, very long time to have gone. Was your doctor aware you were bleeding that long? Mine wasn't HUGELY concerned that I was still bleeding at 2 months pp, but he said that I would be stopping very soon at that point.

He didn't have any reason to believe I had retained placental fragments, my placenta had appeared intact, and what he found when he did the extraction was a very small piece (just a few centimeters).
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