[littleteapot]

This is one area I know very little about, but have read several birth stories where this happened and it was not a big deal.
What can cause this? How do you know if it's "bad"? Is it ever? Is it always?

 

[Skim]

Subbing.

This happened to me with dd2, and I think it was because my placenta had partially separated early on in my labor; but because babe wasn't in the best position until hours later no blood could pass until I hit transition. And then I passed clots. I told this theory to a midwife apprentice recently and she seemed to think that couldn't have been the case because the then baby wouldn't have had any oxygen. I think she misunderstood me, personally.

Hope you get some good info.

 

[BirthFree]

I have been at several births (probably 50) in the past year and I saw some of this... one that was real bleeding (not just a gush of blood... but bleeding) and it was as Skim said... her placenta had abrupted partially - it eventually almost totally clotted where it had seperated so it wasn't super awful (the bleeding) and baby was doing fine the whole time through - but it was unnerving for everyone (she was a VBAC Momma and we were an hour from a hospital). Her placenta had seperated about 25% and baby had been fine. The abruption occured when her ctx. went from about 30 - 45 sec. to a min. in length (she was 8cm).

I have seen LOTS of Mommas that have bleeding when the cervix is dilating really fast - sometimes a gush or two... but usually it doesn't keep gushing (and I think that's the difference between normal and watchful bleeding that I've seen).
~Julie

 

[AllisonK]

Hijacking, sorry.
Hi Julie! That was my birth she was talking about.

All right, back to the thread.

 

[Spark]

Hi, Babs,
I think that there are just many shades of normal. During late pregnancy everything thing in the vaginal region is just so swollen and prone to bleeding. A friend of mine just went on bedrest because she started leaking blood... only to discover it was a razor knick from the week before reopened with a too rough wash cloth. And, it was a LOT of blood!

So, if your cervix is dilating really quickly or a partial abruption, blood might show up. As with everything, I think if you tune into yourself during labor and pregnancy you'll be guided.

 

[Mama Poot]

Homebirther popping in. I didn't bleed during labor, but the amount of blood after the baby came out was SHOCKING, especially since there wasn't as much of it with my first, who was born in the hospital. I was covered literally from head to toe in blood. Nothing was wrong, that's just how it was. If you're worried, I would learn as much as I could about "problem" bleeding, and if you end up like me and bleed a lot for no discernable reason, just try not to be too freaked out by it.

 

[Skim]

Yeah, what Spark said, shades of normal. I had a lot of clotting on my placenta, and a lot more that ultimately passed, but at no point was or did I feel baby was in distress. In fact, she was born so healthy - pink, breathing good, etc. It was a lot like a horror movie in my bathtub

I was sure it was a partial abruption after the fact. And like my friend said, it's probably a good thing there was no midwife, because she would have been nervous and probably wanted me to transfer.

I was confident I would recognize signs of warranted medical intervention. And even though the clots did alarm me (us) at first, I didn't feel going to the hospital was necessary. And it wasn't. My placenta looked soooo worse for the wear, though.

Gushing before birth of baby might alarm me, but I can't tell you what I'd do during that instance until I was there. If it felt like I needed a hospital, I'd definitely call. But who knows. It might just be a shade of normal.

 

[BirthFree]

Heyyyyy Allison!

!!!