What Is Placental Retention And How Is It Treated?

Childbirth does not end with the birth of a child, but with the birth of a placenta. Usually, this last stage of childbirth is easy and happens very quickly after the birth of a child. In some cases, however, the placenta remains in the uterus in part or in full after delivery, and this phenomenon is known as placental retention.

What does placental retention mean?

Sometimes it may be that the placenta does not leave the uterus naturally in the last stage of labor. If the placenta does not leave in the hours after delivery, there may be a risk of placental retention.

Placental retention may also occur if the placenta has only partially left the uterus. This can happen especially in the case of a vaginal delivery, but it is also possible in a sectional delivery.

A partially born placenta is determined by analyzing the placenta: whether it is torn or whether it is a complete, complete placenta. In rare cases, placental retention is not detected immediately but occurs later.

What causes placental retention?

Certain factors can contribute to the development of placental retention. Examples of such culprits are:

• The placenta was located at the scar in the uterus.
• Childbirth is premature.
• Childbirth has had to be started.
• The placenta is lobular or has other abnormalities.

Even if a woman experiences the above risk factors, this does not mean that she has complications with placental birth. Your doctor will instruct you according to the situation. However, it is important for the mother to be vigilant in the third stage of birth, the post-stage stage.

Signs and symptoms of placental retention

In order to determine whether the placenta was born normally, attention may be paid to the following signs.

• Heavy bleeding after postpartum.
• Strange and foul-smelling vaginal discharge.
• Fever.
• Uterine cramps.
• Rupture of the removed placenta.
• Late milk production.

Many women suffer after childbirth from low milk production and delayed successful breastfeeding. In the case of placental retention, there is a marked delay in milk production, which is a strong sign of this discomfort.

Placental retention treatment

If the post-stage has gone naturally but the placenta has not been removed, your doctor will probably give the mother synthetic oxytocin. It helps stimulate the uterus and speed up uterine contractions, resulting in the placenta leaving the uterus. If oxytocin does not help, your doctor will try another medicine.

If the mother has already been repatriated and there is a risk of inflammation, the doctor will see the mother again. In this case, the placenta or its parts left in the uterus are removed at the outpatient clinic. When the mother leaves home, she takes oral antibiotics with her to prevent inflammation or to treat the symptoms of inflammation.

Because all births are different, it is very difficult to prepare for all the rare complications. If a woman has previously suffered from placental retention, there is a high risk that this will happen again. For this reason, the doctor should pay special attention to the post-stage.

In the case of a low-risk pregnancy, complications are also less likely to occur. The mother and newborn should be in close contact with the skin, which also reduces the likelihood of placental retention.

Unnecessary induction of labor should be avoided, as excessive amounts of synthetic oxytocin can cause uterine weakness. This happens if the uterus shrinks profusely but is not in optimal condition. For this reason, it is important to discuss this with your midwife or doctor. Trust and confidence in experts ensure that unexpected complications are less likely to occur.