What causes a placenta to detach

[rae5040]

I was getting my daily snow cone the other day and the girl that works there, I used to go to school with. She decided to tell me that since I had three weeks left, and it related so well to me, a story about her friend that also had three weeks left and the placenta detached itself and caused the baby to die. It almost caused the mother to die also.

What causes this?? Can it be prevented?? How would you know it had happened other than the baby wouldn't move anymore.

My dad, when he was born, was born dead and they said that is what happened to my grandmother but could that be true?? Obviously, he didn't die from it.
I don't understand it and now I am beyond worried. I only have three weeks left and I thought all of the worst of it was behind me. Now I have this to worry about and then there's the thought of his umbilical cord choking him to death. I can't handle this.

Please somebody have some answers

[WorstThingToGoThru]

Its been almost eith months ago since i lost my baby A few days before that i was having chronic pain i couldnt sit up could barely do anything nd im the type of person tgat doesnt like sitting around then one night my water had broke and i had made tge mistake to go use the bathroom thinking i had just peed on myself but when i noticed that i sat down the baby came out i was really screamin .  My heart out cz i had just lost my first baby i called my fiancee nd we went to the er and they didnt know what to tell me what happen to the baby all they really said was that there was a possibility that the umbilical cord detached from the baby and made me lose it right away i was only 13 weeks i kept blamin myself for my misscarriage for months my fiancee kept telling me that it was okayy that if it happened it was cz it wasnt the right time...ever since i was scared to end up pregnant cz i had it stuck in my mind that i was going to lose my next baby...just hopefully soon we may try again and everything will go just the way it suppose to be with my God's help.

[blacke]

What causes a placenta to bend around the fetus and what effects does it have??

[lizzyheu]

please try not to worry.  When you worry like that, you put yourself through worst.  The stress can't be good for you. I look at life like this.... if it happens, it's because it's meant to be.  I lost my 2nd born at 16 weeks but somehow I knew it in my heart that the baby was never mine to keep.  I had 2 babies 2 yrs later.  Don't think of what you've lost but of what is in front of you.  Be happy and content.  Don't ever give up.

[anwright]

I was 10 weeks started bleeding went to the ER did sound said tear in the placenta about 3cm. I was on bed rest for 2 weeks. Went to Doc was told not to lift try take it as light as I can. Now I am 16 weeks no more bleeding but I was wondering should I be scared the hole rest of my pregnancy? My doc is very good but I am still worried. Mine was caused by sex I think me and my husband had sex about one hour before I started bleeding. We have not had relations cents I know this is stressing out my husband will he have to wait the hole pregnancy or will we be able to return to our life's?????

[dbones1]

This is my 4th pregnancy my 1st was fine no bleeding, no complications. The next two times were unsuccessful the first miscarriage happened at almost 5 months no idea to this day what went wrong but I went to the er with flu like symptoms... had chills shaking friends said I was green! Apparently the. Baby didn't make it and. Caused an infection that sent my body into sepsis I was rushed into emergency surgery where they removed the baby and was n the hospital for a week til I was stable. Next time had continuous pink spotting 5 u/s later they say I'm fine on my 12w mark my water breaks! Dnc later that week. Now I'm currently 8w6d started spotting light pink 3 days ago was placed on progesterone 1 week ago had and ultrasound sound was told I had a sligt tear in my placenta told b/r for a week and will see if it heals on its own I'm so scared I don't really understand what to expect. Will progesterone help?  How worried should I be??

[tina1111]

Mine did happen all of the sudden. Previous u/s everything was fine. I was at home watching tv and went to restroom. Had very slight pink discharge. I was worried but waited about 1/2 hr and checked again, was still there. No red, no clots, no pain. Told dh and we went to er. Dr said cervix closed and us showed hb and movement. He explained placenta previa and separation and said follow up w/ob in am. In am at ob office no hb. Most likely something I did that day pulled it away from uterus and too late to do anything. Not that a lot could have been done. I would think this isn't something that should worry you at this point. Just think before you lift anything, including children. We all worry, most of the time just for worry's sake. If/when I get pg again, I'm sure I will worry non-stop :)

[2songbirds]

I don't know. If I remember correctly, I had my 1st u/s with my 1st DC at 15 weeks. It was about 1 1/2 weeks later that I had started my new job and moved to a different apartment, and that was when all the problems started. I do know that I was 17 weeks when she realized what was going on with the placenta. The u/s didn't show any abnormalities with the placenta either, so it was all very surprising to me. I think it took about 1 1/2 weeks for her to diagnose me. After I was put on bedrest, the episodes were much less frequent and less intense, so I know that's what was going on.

Try not to worry so much about this. You've only got 3 weeks to go, and have things been fine so far? Feeling the baby move and such? I've also read many horror stories about stillborn babies and what went wrong. It's so saddening and worried me a lot, but now I realize there's really nothing I can do other than paying attention to the baby moving.

[rae5040]

so it is something that happens over a period of time, not necessarily a long time but over time.

This girl didn't explain it to me and she made it sound like it happened in a period of an hour.

Thank you so much for your advice and explanations! You don't know how much better I feel.

[rae5040]

I'm so sorry to hear all of your stories, even the ones that ended fine, I'm still sorry you had to go through it.

If the placenta wasn't attached correctly, would the doctor have been able to tell in one of the ultrasounds?
I'm just worried. I have only three weeks to go and I know this would kill me to lose him.

I work at a lumber yard and I lift stuff but nothing heavy. I broke myself of that a while back.

Thank you for your words!!!

[rae5040]

Thank you again. And again, I am so sorry for you. It must have been horrible.

I'm so paranoid anyway and her telling me that about this girl that was 37 weeks also just about killed me.

I'm so ready for him to be here. I just worry.
Thank you so much for all your advice!! I appreciate it and I hope you soon get to worry yourself sick again.

[2songbirds]

well, I can still remember quite vividly the night that I thought I was going to lose the baby. They worked me silly, knowing I was pg, carrying 1 heavy tray after another on a busy saturday night. The cramping was horrible, then when I got home I realized I was bleeding with clots. I remember telling my OB that everytime I went back to work and halfway thru my shift, everything would start up again. It just took us 1 1/2 weeks to put everything together to figure out what was going on. I was a fortunate one, and I know that. I know I would've had total placental abruption if I would've just blown everything off as being part of normal unexplained pg bleeding. But I still had some spotting/bleeding with cramping throughout the remainder of the pg, just not as bad.

But, you're not having any spotting/bleeding episodes or heavy cramping are you? Have you lifted anything over 10lbs? I have 2 children....3 1/2 yo DD who's 35lbs, which I quit lifting her, and a 19 month old DS who's 25lbs, who I lift and carry constantly. But, I haven't had any of those kinds of problems with this pg. I had PTL episodes with my 2nd DC and with my current one. Now, he just doesn't want to come out as I'm 39.3 weeks and 2cm. Oh well. All we can do is wait. Then once our lil' ones are born, we worry so much for the 1st year, but it doesn't stop there. We'll worry for the rest of our lives.

[tina1111]

I didn't take your post as sounding callous at all. It's something I never even gave thought to. I was worried about so many things and strain was not on my mind. I had heard of so many women exercising, jogging, etc. I knew not to heavy lift, but my daily routine must have been more than the placenta could take or I did somthing unconciously that was too much. They examined the placenta afterward and it was healthy.

[hu73]

I had a partial placental abruption when I was 20 weeks pregnant.  The Dr. put me on bed rest but to no avail.  I had bled so much that my bag of water was weakened and broke.  I had to have labour induced as I then got an infection in my uterus.  The bleeding from the abruption as well as the sepic infection could have killed me.  The Dr. told me that sometimes the placenta does not implant itself properly from the get go.  If this occurs it is more likely to tear away from the side of the uterus.  It can also occur, as the previous post stated, from a fall or lifting.  You have a slightly higher chance of it happening again but the statistics are not overwhelming.  I had two healthy pregnancies after this occured but I still mourn the loss of my daughter each and every day.

[2songbirds]

with my 1st DC, the edges of the placenta started tearing away at 16 weeks. I was put on bedrest, and she came out fine. I had episodes of heavy bleeding with very strong cramping before my dr could figure out what was going on. My uterus was very tender to touch (where the placenta was) as well. It was most likely due to me lifting heavy things. I had started a new waitressing job and had to lift heavy trays that really strained me and was moving at the same time.  I'm currently 38.3 days with my 3rd DC and I try not to worry about things as such. They are out of my control.

Now that I think about it, I had spotting/light bleeding with cramping episodes throughout that pg, although sometimes it would happen when I was just laying around.

[rae5040]

I am so sorry.

I hope I didn't sound callous in my post. I just started freaking out about the minute she said it.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss. I don't know what I would do if I had carried this little man the whole time and then had to deliver him stillborn. It would kill me. I love him to much to lose him.

I know you must have felt the same way.

[tina1111]

I had a placenta detach at 12wks and lost the baby. Sometimes strict bedrest (they were talking about the remainder of my pg!) can prevent loss, but not always. I was told the reason for the separation was likely due to strain. Probably from lifting something too heavy. I don't recall lifting anything heaver than a 12pack of soda. Next time around I will not lift anything heavier than a tissue box. Not taking any chances. :)