# vaginal hematoma



## mezzaluna (Jun 8, 2004)

i had a short & drug-free (except GBS abx) labor & delivery - 6 hours of intense contractions, 20 minutes of pushing. afterwards was losing a lot of blood and the OB kept pulling blood clots out of me. she cranked on the pitocin, presuming it was uterine bleeding, and when that didn't work administered suppositories of misopristol (i think). when that didn't work, they put me under general to check things out and possibly do a d&c, and discovered a vaginal hematoma was the source of the bleeding.... stitched it up and the bleeding stopped. luckily i didn't quite need a transfusion...whew.

i was wondering how random the hematoma was - whether it was related to the short labor/short pushing phase or if it might have something to do with how my OB managed the delivery (i wasn't fond of this OB). I did have a fair amount of external tearing as well. another OB in the practice (the one i wish had been on call instead







)told me she didn't think it was likely to recur in a subsequent delivery... but it does make me a little afraid - DH and I were hoping we could plan a homebirth if my health is good in the next pregnancy. what might a hb m/w have done to prevent this, and what would she have done if i had uncontrollable bleeding like this? (i guess ship me to the hospital all of a 5 minute drive away).


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## obnurse (May 18, 2004)

I am confused here. A hematoma is a collection of blood contained IN the tissues. Not bleeding and clots pouring out of you! Usually bleeding and clots that heavy IS fromt the uterus itself. Constant streaming of blood can be from the uterus or a vaginal or cervical tear (but not usually big and numerous clots that I have seen).
What makes a hematoma so nasty if the blood is trapped in the tissue and causes exteme pain and pressure. I have seen them several times. I have seen them from unmedicated, intervention free deliveries that were 'fast and furious'..where the baby explosively came through the birth canal. But I saw one just resently that was AWEFUL (the worst I had ever seen) from a vacuum delivery. We will never know of course if it would have happened anyway, but the OB used a Kiwi vacuum for really no reason that I could see (besides his impatience). As soon as the baby popped out, the poor ladies right labia absolutely swelled so fast it looked like a balloon being filled at a helium station! And I am not exagerating! I have never, ever seen anything like it! We immediately applied ice and pressure..and I had to put a foley catheter in her asap so urine could actually drain from this lady. The hematoma was SOOOO big, that it pushed her opposite labia majora over. There was now way that woman would be able to pee on her own until some of the swelling went down.
I thought for sure we would take her to the OR and drain it, but the OB said that it is so difficult to actully find and cauterize the bleeding vessel, that it is better to leave the hematoma alone if it is not enlarging, and the back pressure would actually staunch the bleeding.
The swelling was a million times better in 2 days (which surprised me), but she came back into the hospital 4 or 5 days after discharge begging for it to be operated on. They refused since it really did look excellent and she was having no difficulty peeing or getting around.
I don't know what the point of my rambling was! In answer to your question, the hematomas I have seen have been random, and SOME related to quick pushing, and instrumental deliveries. I would suppose that if you had some funky vessel(s) in your vagina, that were say 'weaker' than you could be at higher risk for this happening..but I don't even know if that is a medical condition or I am just rationalizing! LOL!
I have not personally seen anyone have it happen twice to them.


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## mezzaluna (Jun 8, 2004)

hmm, i'm puzzled then - why would they have called it a hematoma?


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## mwherbs (Oct 24, 2004)

hematoma is basically a bruise
so what did the doctor find a torn varicosity? or a bruise that tore open? probably the clots were coming from the uterus and some of the bleeding but obviously too much bleeding was happening so they looked and found some sort of tear because the doc stitched and stopped the bleed. vaginal or cervical would be my question? sounds like you need to find out, what happened.


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## mezzaluna (Jun 8, 2004)

i'll definitely ask at my 6 week followup - though i booked it with my favorite ob, rather than the one i didn't like, who happened to be on call that night. so i might not get answers right away, but i just didn't want to see that OB again... they said it wouldn't affect future deliveries, but i am still wondering what happened and why...

on the good side, with all the blood clots that came out then i never passed any once i got out of the hospital. no surprises in my undies









i feel much more like myself again now, 2 weeks pp - basically able to sit and walk like normal now.


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## 3_opihi (Jan 10, 2003)

It could have been that there was some sort of tear in the uterus or something, which caused a large hematoma, which was not allowing your uterus to clamp down, hence all the bleeding and blood clots. Or there could have been a large hematoma where your placenta was attached or something and when it detached, the bleeding started. I would definitely ask the doc at your next appointment. It seems he was a little vague on the details.


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## Luvbnmama2alex (Aug 20, 2004)

My bestfriend experienced a vaginal hematoma with the birth of her first child. His arm was above his head and his elbow bruised her on his way out. She didn't have any external bleeding but it was extremely painful. She required surgery to fix it.

She was told that it was a random occurrence and she needn't fear it happening again, but in her situation, they knew what caused it. She recently had another baby without any problems.









I hope you find out what you want to know. I'm still curious about things that happened during dd's birth but my ob injured herself a few days after the birth and I never saw her again.









Good luck!


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## cariebee (Jun 15, 2014)

Hi my name is Carol and I'm 31 now but when I had my son at 25 yrs I had a hematoma too. I needed surgery and it happened very fast within 15min of delivering I was in the or, that bad and I had about 60 stitches ouch!! That was 6 yrs ago and then I couldn't find a single site or any info on this matter like now, even though its still rare. Its been six years and I have not dare to get pregnant again, truth is they don't know what could happen because woman that get it don't want more kids after so there isn't any info to know if it can happen again. By the wayI still get pain from it 6 yrs later on the same areas that were affected. My dr offer to do a c-ssection if I ever decide to have another and if I ever dare get pregnant again I think I would have a c-section because with the scar tissue I would be to afraid that this time I would die. Yes it was a close call for me and I would be very careful in your shoes do a c-section, not only will it be safer but way less painful. It took me a month to be able to get out of bed and even physical therapy. I even limp from time to time. In any even I hope that whatever your choice it turns out great and post it I would like to know what happens.


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## Lilsmommy1 (Jul 20, 2014)

*Hematoma*

I gave birth 12 days ago to a beautiful healthy daughter. Needless to say her birth was less than beautiful. It was quite traumatic. I was in labor for 17 hrs and pushed for 4 hrs straight. The OB on call then announces that the baby's head was stuck and twisted, and they were going to use a vacuum. After 3 tries the vacuum failed to do anything. I ended up with a C section. I sit here now with a hematoma from the trauma of the vacuum. It is painful but seems to be getting a little smaller, hard to tell though. Anyone know if these ever do really go away and resolve on their own? I don't want to go through the pain of having it drained...... I also don't want to live with this. I have stopped bleeding at this point and not sure if that is due to this either.


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## andieleigh20 (Dec 12, 2014)

Carol-I had a hematoma 20 months ago with the birth of my daughter. She has been a very high needs and colicky child. I also was screaming for hours before the stupid nurses even decided to get a doctor for my hematoma. It was HUGE and I had to have surgery as well and was very delirious and in so much pain I didn't think I would live. I have PTSD and PPD now and I am so nervous and do not want to have more children. My husband helps with our daughter now and he tells me to have a c-section with a next child but I just can't wrap my mind around ever doing that again. I would go through the labor part a hundred times over but the after effects of the hematoma have scarred me for life. I also wondered if you had bleeding during your pregnancy? I had bleeding throughout my entire pregnancy and wonder if because I am so sensitive down there etc if that is a warning sign/cause? It is so frustrating that today with all of the random information on the internet one can't find anything about vaginal hematoma's. It's so hard to explain to others as well and people just don't understand how painful it was and my in laws are always bugging me to have more children. I really wanted a big family but I don't think I can go through pregnancy again. I really just want to adopt....I don't want my daughter to be an only child but the thought of doing that again is what I think gives me a lot of my anxiety.


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