I am almost 35 weeks pregnant with my 6th baby. I have been warned that after 4 children you are more at risk of bleeding during 3rd stage of pregnancy. I have not had any problems in other labours, but this was made more of issue by consultant in early pregnancy. It was never mentioned in other pregnancies which has slightly scared me. How serious are the risks? Is this likely to effect my plans to have a water birth? |
There is a slightly higher risk of post partum haemorrhage (PPH in medical jargon) the older you are, and the more babies you have had. Despite the fact you haven’t had the problem before, the more pregnancies you have muscle tone may not be as good and your womb does not contract down to clamp the blood vessels where the placenta was attached. The team caring for you in labour will be aware of this and will probably offer you an injection to help your womb to contract. It is a common problem that midwives and obstetricians are used to dealing with at delivery so discuss it as soon as you go into hospital for the birth and they should be able to put things in place to deal with this should it occur.
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