Postpartum Hemmorhage

After the birth of one of my children, I don't remember much until a few hours later. I was really concerned about this and couldn't understand what had happened until I told my husband about it. He told me that after I had our son, the doctor said that my uterus tore slightly and that I had hemorrhaged. When that happened, I went into shock and lost a considerable amount of blood. I almost had to have a blood transfusion.

In my case, my uterus tore because of uterine muscle exhaustion that was caused by my rapid labor (only 52 minutes from the first contraction to the delivery). The tear in my uterus was so small that I didn't need invasive measures to stop the bleeding. All that was necessary was a little uterine massage to make the uterus contract and pinch off the blood vessels around the tear.

According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, postpartum hemorrhage occurs in approximately 5 to 15 percent of women who have given birth. Women who have had a previous hemorrhage are at an increased of another one with each subsequent child.

While the reasons for postpartum hemorrhage vary from placental abnormalities to uterine exhaustion, previous scarring of the uterus or a stretched uterus because of multiples, obstetricians classify these hemorrhages according to how long after delivery they occur. An early postpartum hemorrhage occurs within 24 hours of delivery and a late postpartum hemorrhage occurs later than 24 hours after delivery.

Treating a postpartum hemorrhage can involve a variety of measures. Uterine massage, administration of oxytocin, packing the uterus with gauze and surgery are all possible measures to control the bleeding. If a lot of blood is lost, a transfusion may be recommended. In some cases, antibiotics will be given to prevent possible infections.

After my postpartum hemorrhage, my activity was limited for four days. I was allowed to get out of bed only to use the restroom and I wasn't allowed to lift my son. My husband or a nurse had to put him into my arms. After those four days, I was released from the hospital and was allowed to slowly return to normal activities.

I was lucky that my uterine tear didn't affect my ability to have other children, and I haven't had any more hemorrhages after childbirth. For some women who suffer from postpartum hemorrhages, the uterus is so damaged that future pregnancies aren't possible.

http://www.acog.org/acog_districts/dist8/jfpph.pdf