Retained Placenta three weeks later??

[Spirit Dancer]

I have a question I am asking for my friend who gave birth three weeks ago. She is feeling well but tired and her baby is doing great. She has no fever. However her doctor says that she still has some small pieces of placenta in her uterus.

After a week her bleeding went from red to brown but a few days after that went back to being red with some small clots in it the size of a quarter or so. She says she is only bleeding slightly/ moderatly but it is bright red. Apperantly her fondus is still soft and her uterus is soft also and not hardening up. SO the doc sent her for an ultrasound which showed there is some pieces of placenta in her uterus.

Her doc says the unltrasound shows it *could* be infected so they put her on antibiotics (Clindamycin 300ml 4x daily). But she has no fever... The doc wants to wait a bit to see if it comes out otherwise she will do a D&C.

Are there any more natural ways my friend can help the placenta come out? She is already breastfeeding. Are the antibiotics necessary? She has had other issues and this is like her 6th round of antibiotics in about 6 mos. (IMO dr is majorly pro-antibiotics) I am getting her some probiotics. Is this a serious issue? Any advice? Experience?

Thanks a lot.

[Mamato3wild ponnie]

Did her milk come in ok? Sometimes with a retained placenta mom's milk supply can be low or take a very long time to come in...has she noticed any of these things?

[thehappydeer]

Here is an excerpt of an article about Postpartum Herbal Support. I found this yesterday on a link from Midwifery Today's site. I think these recommendations were meant to be right after birth, but they may still be helpful or lead you on the right path of research. I think I may have heard also that the homeopathic of pulsatilla is helpful too...but definitely look into that one more.

Delayed Placenta
# For a delayed placenta you can use angelica root extract (Angelica sinensis). Place a drop under the tongue and drink with a swig of water. This will swiftly bring the placenta.
# Hot basil leaf (Ocimum basilicum) infusion smells and tastes great, as well as producing results. Drink this by the cupful.
# Make a feverfew flower (Tanacetum parthenium) infusion when labor starts by adding four teaspoons of the herb to a quart jar, fill with boiling water and cap. Allow to sit at room temperature for thirty minutes, then refrigerate. This keeps the infusion fresh, in the case of a longer birth.

[Spirit Dancer]

Originally Posted by Mamato3wild ponnie

Did her milk come in ok? Sometimes with a retained placenta mom's milk supply can be low or take a very long time to come in...has she noticed any of these things?

Yes, her milk came in after a few days and is in very plentiful supply. Her baby is already very chubby .

Thanks happy deer for the info about those herbs.

Anyone know anymore?

[NightWalker]

I don't but would love to hear more! Please keep us posted on your friend

[Individuation]

Possibly off-topic, but she is at least on the right medication. I'm generally not pro-antibiotic, but that's a good one--I took it for the one-two-punch combo of mastitis and a uterine infection and it helped immediately, plus it did NOT give me thrush issues or stomach problems.

[AngieB]

Why did it take 3 weeks for the doctor to notice that all the placenta had not come out. Did they not check the placenta when it came out at the birth and notice something was wrong? It seems to me that someone messed up big time.

[elanorh]

nak

I had this with Ina. It contributed to my low supply. OB said he doubted this was the issue when the LC suggested this at 9 weeks pp (I still had lochia too) -- everything seemed fine other than lochia and low supply. He did a d&c though and there were microscopic fragments per the lab work. Lochia ended three days later and my breasts started leaking more again.

No signs of infection so no abx.

[krismarie]

i've had this twice. (well, a very small piece of membrane with ds2). with both, i had no idea. the pieces were small enough that neither mw at both births noticed. at ds2 birth we even cut up and dried my placenta so it was really inspected well.
i had more than enough milk and had no infection. they just came out on their own. at 5 weeks pp with ds1 and 3 weeks pp with ds2. i think there would be some sign of infection if it was infected. i'd be wary of antibiotics without a sign of infection...i'd be trying to stay really healthy and eating lots of garlic.

[Spirit Dancer]

Originally Posted by AngieB

Why did it take 3 weeks for the doctor to notice that all the placenta had not come out. Did they not check the placenta when it came out at the birth and notice something was wrong? It seems to me that someone messed up big time.

Well apperently there are only small fragments left so as following posters have noted I guess it can be missed. At two weeks postpartum she had a drs appt and they picked up on it since her fondus was not hardening at all.

It still hasn't come out but she is hoping it will so as to avoid a d&c. She has plenty of milk so at least that is good though the abx is constipating her babe.