Stillbirth Support Group
This community is dedicated to those who have been impacted by a stillbirth. A stillbirth occurs when a fetus which has died in the uterus, during labor, or during delivery exits a woman's body. For help and support, share your experiences and learn how others coped. Don't forget that you are not alone.
I recently lost my baby girl at 24 wks 4d due to a placental abruption. (Please see my first journal entry. I feel I can share this experience with you all now.) I researched on the internet and spoke to my gyn about and I thought I understood what had happened.
Then I went to see the blood clotting doctor yesterday to be tested to see if I have a disorder. We were talking and I realised that I was very confused about the link between the blood clotting disorders and the placental abruption. Could someone who has been through this please explain it to me?
I understood that blood clotting disorders may cause an abruption.
But the blood clotting Dr said that there is no evidence that they do, just that blood clotting disorders are more common in placental abruption mothers than in the normal population. The test is for my health, not for planning future pregnancies.
My gyn. told me DO NOT get pregnant until after we get the results from the blood clotting tests, because if I do have a disorder, then the same thing will happen again.
The blood clotting Dr said that because I've had one abruption, it is more likely to happen in in future pregnancies. But not to worry because the chance is very small, anyway. (Let's not even get to insensitivity of that comment....)
I also understood that if there was a blood clotting disorder, the mother was given blood thinners of some sort - baby asprin or injections.
But the blood clotting Dr said that if I did have a disorder, then the next question would be how or whether to treat me for it. I told him about the blood thinners, and he said that IF an abruption was caused by a blood clot, that this would work. But that there was another school of though that said that abruptions are just spontaneous. IF I had a spontaneous abruption and was on blood thinners, then I would bleed profusely, which would be very dangerous (sorry about spelling). And not advised.
He then suggested that I might take part in a study going on in the hospital where they are taking mothers who have had an abruption and have a blood clotting disorder, and randomly choosing whether or not to put them on blood thinners, to see if the occurance of another abruption is significantly different.
It's all so conflicting. I'm so confused.
If you have any experience with blood clotting, abruptions and blood thinners, please, please can you help me understand this???
PS Sorry for going on and on and on....
Then I went to see the blood clotting doctor yesterday to be tested to see if I have a disorder. We were talking and I realised that I was very confused about the link between the blood clotting disorders and the placental abruption. Could someone who has been through this please explain it to me?
I understood that blood clotting disorders may cause an abruption.
But the blood clotting Dr said that there is no evidence that they do, just that blood clotting disorders are more common in placental abruption mothers than in the normal population. The test is for my health, not for planning future pregnancies.
My gyn. told me DO NOT get pregnant until after we get the results from the blood clotting tests, because if I do have a disorder, then the same thing will happen again.
The blood clotting Dr said that because I've had one abruption, it is more likely to happen in in future pregnancies. But not to worry because the chance is very small, anyway. (Let's not even get to insensitivity of that comment....)
I also understood that if there was a blood clotting disorder, the mother was given blood thinners of some sort - baby asprin or injections.
But the blood clotting Dr said that if I did have a disorder, then the next question would be how or whether to treat me for it. I told him about the blood thinners, and he said that IF an abruption was caused by a blood clot, that this would work. But that there was another school of though that said that abruptions are just spontaneous. IF I had a spontaneous abruption and was on blood thinners, then I would bleed profusely, which would be very dangerous (sorry about spelling). And not advised.
He then suggested that I might take part in a study going on in the hospital where they are taking mothers who have had an abruption and have a blood clotting disorder, and randomly choosing whether or not to put them on blood thinners, to see if the occurance of another abruption is significantly different.
It's all so conflicting. I'm so confused.
If you have any experience with blood clotting, abruptions and blood thinners, please, please can you help me understand this???
PS Sorry for going on and on and on....
Here is my story. In Sept. of 07' I had a miscarriage at 11 weeks in. After this miscarriage I discovered I had a blood clotting disorder which most likely caused my placenta to stop functioning and caused the miscarriage. With this discovery my husband, myself and my doctor all agreed we would be ok to try again and I would be treated by taking a baby asprin a day and a blood thinner injection called Lovenox. I became pregnant and I started my Lovenox injections (40mg once a day) and a baby asprin once a day to control the clotting and help the placenta function. Well, the pregnancy went perfect until 30 weeks. At 30 weeks we found out we had lost our baby girl, Holly, however this was not due to my blood at all... she had a cord accident. So basically what I'm trying to say is the Lovenox and baby asprin did work, it did what it was supposed to do and if it weren't for the cord I would be holding my angel right now. I have more details about this in my journal entries. I hope this helped answer some of your questions.
Hugs,
Jaimie
A blood clot forms between the wall of the uterus and the placenta.
The placenta, being deprived of the blood flow because of the clot, then starts to detach from the uterine wall.
I also talked to my doctor about trying again and treating the clotting disorder. I take a daily baby aspirin and folic acid but will need to take an injection blood thinner once a pregnancy is confirmed.
However, your doctor probably knows what is best for your situation and I would strongly advise to do whatever they say. If you are confused or unsure you could ask for more details from your dr. or even get a second opinion. What can it hurt to have all the information that you can get?
Again, I am so sorry for your loss. I wish you all the luck in the future.
When the placenta delivered there was a blood clot on the maternal floor and pathology confirms a "recent retroplacental hematoma." So at some point the placenta pulled away from the uterus and cause the blood clots. It could have been due to the infection they found in the placenta or for some other unknown reason like a blood clotting disorder.
I did a full thrombophilia work up. This needs to be done at least two months after giving birth as during the post partum period your clotting factors are elevated naturally. With that work up my lupus anticoagulant levels came back elevated. Everything else was normal. I repeated the LA test and it came back fine the second time. We ruled out a blood clotting disorder.
If a person does have a clotting disorder asprin, lovenox and heparin are commonly used thinners in pregnancy.
Sorry for your loss ((hugs))