Wondering if i should take this further. Please help.
I’m 21, i had my first baby boy September 29, 2022. Epidural, no complications (so i thought) thought i don’t even know who delivered my baby. It wasn’t my OB that I was transferred to that was closer to the hospital. I’m not sure why.
Anyways, all week i was in SO MUCH pain down there. it hurt so bad to urinate, sitting and even just walking ans caring for my baby.. i knew this wasn’t normal. exactly one week after giving birth- I began to bleed. huge blood clots, soaking 3 maxi pads in 40 minutes then a t shirt. I was almost passing out. I got to the emergency room in so much pain. they gave me a DNC and told me that i had retained placenta. i now have my records and it says this as well. I would like to know if i should take this further, i lost a lot of blood and the trauma was just crazy and unexpected all while taking care of a one week old.
8 Replies
Sadly birth complications aren’t that uncommon, and retained placenta is something that happens.
I understand how traumatic it can be when things don’t go to plan.
A lot of people don’t get the original OB because babies are born at random times and they have to take some time off of work, or they have multiple babies coming simultaneously.
You could apply to see your medical records from the birth (if you haven’t already seen those). To see if they skipped a step, but I think it would be extremely challenging to prove they were negligent. You’d have to prove they didn’t weigh or check the placenta. Even when they do it’s not a full proof.
I’d personally concentrate on healing, and maybe getting some therapy. I wished I’d gotten some therapy.
Take it further where? To a solicitor? Are you looking for compensation? I think you will find it will be a dead end as there have been no serious outcomes (you will heal and this will have no further impact on you physically)
Even if there was a death it can be extremely difficult to prove there was negligence (believe me I've been down that road)
I agree with the above that if you feel impacted then try talking it through with a counsellor. There are plenty you can call.
Your situation seems pretty common.
If you were transferred, it could of been for a variety of reasons. It's unusual that you weren't told.
The hospital may have been on bypass where your L&D was full or it was unsafe for you to deliver there because of staff availability.
My OB was busy with other cases at different hospitals. I saw him twice. 1st, when I was induced. And the 2nd when I was time to pull him out. My delivery was difficult and a lot of things occurred that I didn't even know about because having a mother panic wouldn't help. I only learnt later that they thought I might need an emergency c section, that I had a bleed after he came out, that he had a haemtobia on top of his scalp from where the vacuum extraction cup was placed...
These little details wouldn't help me push him out.
Things happen during deliveries that don't go to plan. You might need to speak to someone and your OB sooner than your 6 week check up to discuss your feelings and explain how easy it is to retain pieces of your placenta behind.
Finally, I'm guessing since you have probably been to your 6 week check up, you might need to talk to your OBGYN again about all this.
The thing is, you're ok now and so is your baby. You need validation and things explained to you though. Be kind to yourself and get someone to listen to you be it counselling or talk to your doctor.
It's pretty common what happened (not necessarily their fault either), medical neg cases are really hard to prove, you won't get anything for this.
A lot of us have had things happen that leave us permanently affected and don't have a leg to stand on.
You also haven't suffered financiallyas a result, so what would you sue for?
Yeah i agree with most of this comment ^ but also girl this is America. If you’ve been permanently affected by something then sue lmfao. Also, even if you read all these comments saying not to sue, just because we personally wouldn’t. I still would sue because who gives af.
I spoke to a professional, I don't have a case.
These cases are typically hard to prove, in Australia anyway.
Girl sue if you feel like you need/want to. I’m assuming we don’t have all the details so I say if you were effected in this in any way, sue. Someone said you weren’t financially effected so what would you sue for but ummm I would look for a case if i was bleeding out while having a one week old I don’t care lol. Good luck
The same thing happened to me, it's really common. It's not necessarily a fault of a Dr or midwife. In my case it was because my baby was overdue and the placenta was weakened and didn't come out in one piece. It's also really common to have pain after having a baby especially urinating. My after pains with my fourth were worse than labour. I guess you should be asking why they let you go home with an incomplete placenta because of the high risk of haemorrhage that goes with it but aside from that everything mentioned is normal.