[RaggedyAnn]

I had an unmedicated hospital birth with my first child and had a retained placenta. I was thinking of having a homebirth for my second child (that I am TTC), but was wondering if I would be considered at risk for a homebirth or not? If not, I need some info so I can convince my dh it would be safe and that a midwife would be able to handle the situation should it arise with my second birth.

TIA

 

[bubbles]

I think a lot of it depends upon why your placenta was retained and how it was handled. I had a retained placenta that was calcified. I had my ds in a birth center and the midwife handled it well, although very painfully. THe best thing might be to meet with a midwife, along w/ your dh, and talk about it. Coming from the midwife herself it might be more reassuring to your dh. Good luck! I hope to do homebirth for my next one also.

 

[pamamidwife]

I too think it's just about what retained means. I've waited two or three hours for a placenta - within some hospitals, it's expected to birth by a half hour.

So, your placenta may have come had there been more time given, but I would in no way consider this an obstacle in planning a homebirth.

 

[RaggedyAnn]

Thank you for your responses. My placenta didn't detach itself from the uterine wall and the OB only waited about 30 minutes before he took action. Yes I agree it is quite painful for them to manually remove the placenta. I stopped contracting right after dd was born and I was losing a lot of blood, that is what scares my dh. I didn't have to receive any blood, but I was this nice shade of green for at least a week or so after giving birth and almost passed out several times too.

 

[cottonwood]

Did you lose most of your blood before or after your placenta was removed? Did you breastfeed or do nipple stimulation right after birth?

 

[pamamidwife]

I think in your case your placenta may have come with other measures in a decent amount of time. the excess bleeding was from the manual removal.

I'd definitely talk to a mw with your dh.

Interviews are free!

 

[MamaAllNatural]

I had a retained placenta w/baby #2 for a little over an hour. It was fine. With baby #3 it stayed in for about 40 min. The hospital is so impatient with placentas (among other things), they usually cause a lot of problems with the placenta by tugging on the cord and ripping it from the uterine wall prematurely. I've found that midwives at home deal with placenta issues much more effectively than doctors in hospitals.

 

[RaggedyAnn]

I lost the blood before the placenta was manually removed. I tried breastfeeding, but dd wouldn't latch on. I didn't try nipple stimulation, I know as an after thought I wish I would have done it. My dh was a little freaked out by how much blood I was losing, so he wasn't too much help with suggesting things at the time. Thanks for all your input and I think I will be consulting a local midwife.

 

[pamamidwife]

it sounds like what you had, Trisha, was not a retained placenta, but a partially separated placenta. this is a different issue - part of the placenta separates, but the uterus cannot clamp down and stop the bleeding because part of the placenta is still attached. so, you're basically bleeding out from those vessels that are exposed where the placenta did separate.

incidentally, I had a client who had this happen with her homebirth with her second child. It sounded pretty crazy and she was rushed to the hospital. I was her mw with her third and her baby was born in water and the placenta came easily fifteen minutes later with little bleeding.

 

[Faith]

FWIW, I had my first in a hospitial, and I also had a manually removed "retained" placenta.

I had my second at home and my placenta came out perfectly. I blame the first time on interventions causing my body to get confused, and the fact that it might not have been ready to give birth.

I have read that one of the best ways to help a stubborn placenta is to squat and blow over the top of a water bottle. Haven't tried it, but sounds like it could help.