Talk to me about post partum hemorrhage - Page 2

[BelgianSheepDog]

Do you think maybe the doctor artificially ruptured your membranes? They can be sneaky like that sometimes.

I forgot to say, either long labor or precipitous labor can wear out the uterus and cause hemorrhage. But yours sounds fairly average. Hmm.

The human body really is a mystery in some ways. We know all the averages and how it usually goes, but sometimes it throws quite the curve ball.

I think it would be worth your while to talk to a midwife. Yeah it's way expensive, but it could save a lot of pain and frustration. Not to be cliched, but it's true.

[cchrissyy]

my pitocin to stop hemorage was as a shot in my thigh, I think. well, a shot somewhere- I know I didn't have an IV!

[Briannasmom]

I had a pph with my first - a very precipitous labor (2 hours start to finish) - mw made the decision to t/f me to hospital. WHen I got pregnant with dd2, I asked my regular ob specifically about the risks of repeat pph and he said if you have one there's a greater chance of you having another (than a woman who didn't have one) - if I remember it was like 12 to 15 percent chance. But this was not enough of a risk for me to consider having a hospital birth.

I just made sure when I selected my mw for dd2, she had had experience with it, and had a game plan to help me avoid a repeat. My awesome midwife did help me avoid it....Diet was one thing we did; she wanted me to keep baby/uterus small - so I ate very little sugar. I also took a ton of calcium supplements....all the MWs around here swear that calcium helps prevent pph.

At the delivery, mw used homeopathic stuff like shepards purse, etc. but they didn't work. She had to use drugs which I was actually fine with. I was just glad to get the bleeding to stop. Anyway, she mentioned something interesting about my uterus - she said that based on my placenta - my uterus is heart shaped - which she thought might cause the additional bleeding.

I personally would be uncomfortable with a UC after having a PPH - but then again, if my choice was hospital or UC, I'd go UC.

[pageta]

Originally Posted by Nora'sMama

My mother had PPH when I was born (and almost bled out before it was discovered - very, very scary) and I always thought that this may have happened BECAUSE she had a Pit-induced labor, because the Pit contractions tired her uterine muscles. But I don't remember exactly where and why I came to this conclusion. I was very frightened of PPH and because of my beliefs about my mom's experience I was determined not to have any Pitocin (I didn't, and I also didn't have any bleeding problems).

Does anyone have any further info on the Pit induction-PPH connection, if there is one?

I don't have a link, but I know I read an article online recently about how many of the moms who have pit will hemmorage after they are transferred to the postpartum unit. They have the pitocin during or after labor and delivery which stops any problems at that point, but their body isn't producing the necessary hormones naturally since the synthetic substitute hormones were given, and thus in the lag between when their body starts producing the appropriate hormones and when the artificial hormones wear off, they hemmorage. That makes sense to me.

I bled 900 ccs with ds. I believe anything over 500 ccs is considered hemmorage. I had a very long labor - over 24 hours of contractions every 2 minutes - and a very low dose of pitocin along with an epidural for about 12 hours. So my uterus was tired and there was the interference in the natural production of hormones due to the artificial hormones being given, if you buy that theory. When I talked to my midwife about it during this pregnancy, she said a long labor, pitocin, and epidural are the perfect recipe for postpartum hemmorage. The uterus is simply worn out and to tired to contract, and your body isn't doing what it would normally do due to fatigue and interventions.

This time I am a little worried about pph, but I am very adamant and have made it clear to my caregivers that I am very adamant about having a natural birth with no interventions. Remember when Tom Cruise and whats-her-name had their baby and Tom's religion said that there had to be complete silence during the birth with an exception granted for the mother? I swear, I am converting to whatever religion that is for second and third stages of labor and delivery. Simply put, I want my body to be able to do what it was programmed to do without hindrance or intervention. Wish me luck!

[Briannasmom]

Originally Posted by pageta

Remember when Tom Cruise and whats-her-name had their baby and Tom's religion said that there had to be complete silence during the birth with an exception granted for the mother? I swear, I am converting to whatever religion that is for second and third stages of labor and delivery. Simply put, I want my body to be able to do what it was programmed to do without hindrance or intervention. Wish me luck!

That would be Scientology!! I'm not one - but I agree, silence and peace for the hard part is VERY important so you can get that birthin work done!!