Partial Placental Abruption

Mrs. Action

Hi,

I posted this on 2nd tri a few days ago, but I thought some of you ladies might have experience with this.  On Saturday I started bleeding fairly heavily and went to the ER.  They did an u/s and determinded that the baby was ok, but that my placenta was partially seperated from the uterine wall.  I am on bed rest for a week and have a follow up with my doctor tomorrow.  I am so nervous that this will happen again, especially since they don't really know what caused it.  I do have a rather large fibroid on my uterus and that could have played a part in it, but they aren't even sure of that.  Does anybody have experience with this?

 TIA!

christina06

I have had chronic placental abruptions with my first and current pregnancy.  I'm like you with my first pregnancy and didn't have any of the "common" risk factors like drug use or trauma.  With DD, preg #1, I was around 17 wks when I had my first bleed and on full bed rest till delivery around 20wks.  The abruption did finally heal and I was taken off of bed rest but then had another bleed around 32 weeks so back on bedrest after a few days back to work.  I also had a placenta previa and a uterine irritability so I was on meds to help with the contractions.  Good news is that I made it to term, actually a few days past and my daughter is now almost 21 months and thriving.

Now with my current pregnancy, I had a subchorionic hematoma (bloodclot) that caused some spotting early on around 6 wks and eventually resolved.  At 19 wks I had spotting and cramping and had another placental abruption.  They now think it's a blood clotting disorder since it's happened twice.  I really should have been playing the lottery all these years with these odds, huh? 

But yes, it can be scary.  Try not to google too much and as my OB told me, "stop reading medline." 

Here's what I do know: The blood caused from the abruption acts as an irritant to the uterus since it knows it's not suppoesd to be there and that causes the contractions to try and eliminate it.  Also, the blood can also be absorbed.  One of the high-risk docs used the description that it's like a scab that has pealed up at the edge.  It can still be reopened, be irritated and bleed and it can also heal itself.  So the bed rest is one precaution to stop from aggravating it further and getting worse. 

Talk to your OB but if you don't feel comforted with their response, I'd ask to also see a perinatologist/maternal fetal medicine doctor to further assess your situation.  They do a much more thorough ultrasound and are accustomed to seeing this stuff on a more regular basis.

Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions.

sending you T&P's.

curlyworms

Hi I lurk over here sometimes. I am sorry you have to deal with this, it is really scary. I was further along with mine, I had one at 29 weeks and spent the next 4 weeks on hospital bedrest. I had pretty severe bleeding on and off for the first 3 weeks. I finally had to have 2 blood transusions after the last severe bleed and had I been further along at that point they would have delivered then but since DS heartrate remained good and steady the whole time they played the wait and see game. As long as he was strong they could pump blood into me. I finally had 1 week with out bleeding and was released to go home to continue strict bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. It turns out that was only 2 days because my water broke 2 days later at 33 weeks and I delivered by C/S that day and had minimal bleeding after delivery which was another concern. DS was in the NICU for about 24 days but was breathing on his own at birth and basically just had to learn to suck/swallow/breath. He is doing great and getting big. I had high blood pressure from pregnancy but didnt have any of the other risk factors.

The only advice I have is to follow the dr. orders on bedrest and anything that concerns you dont hesitate to call your doc and pp is right about not reading alot of stuff on line about it. I didnt read alot while in the hospital but have read some after the fact and it would have scared me worse than I already was. I agree about trying to see a MFM doc. Best of luck to you and your LO.

LMark

This just happened to me this week.

I discovered some bleeding when I woke up on Sunday.  I saw my doctor on Monday and my cervix was still closed and we heard the baby's heartbeat.  She recommended that I get an ultrasound the same day.  Everything looked normal and my placenta was good so she suggested pelvic rest.  I was trying to think if I did anything strenuous and nothing came to mind. 

Yesterday, there was more bleeding and my doctor suggested that I check myself into the hospital to be monitored.  We ended up being admitted and I stayed through most of the evening.  Still, the baby and I were okay and bleeding dwindled.  When my doctor came to check in on me, she said that ultrasounds don't always pick up the smallest placental abruption.  The medical team believes that's what I had, even if the ultrasound didn't show it.  I just need to take it easy.

It's still scary and I hope everything goes okay.