Uterine Rupture?

I'm very sorry to hear about your miscarriage.
I have had a uterine rupture from a c-section scar.
My frist son was born at 28 weeks by urgent c-cection. This c-section was a classical (with the muscle grain). I was never told that I could rupture with another pregnancy.
With my daughter I went into back labor (at 36 weeks) & didn't realize it. After 2 hours I became nausious & went to the ER. I vomited & my water broke. Within 30 - 45 min. (or so, I didn't really look at the clock) I was in the OR for a repeat c-section (as labor with a classical c-section is very dangerous). My uterus had ruptured & my daughter was comming through the hole in my uterus. I was fortunate enough that I did not start bleeding out because you can bleed to death very quickly from a uterine rupture. My daughter lived for 1hr. & 16 min. without breathing (she died from complications of amniotic band syndrome - that had nothing to do with my rupture). I was not told what my chances would be for another uterine rupture.
I did go on to have another baby (my 1st full-term - 38 weeks). He was born by scheduled c-section. the dr. didn't want to touch my previous scar so they did a bikini cut c-section, but while getting my son's 2nd shoulder out my prevous c-section scar ripped. I was told that another pregnancy would be too dangerous, but with all the scar tissue they were unable to tie my tubes as my uterus is webbed in place by scar tissue.
Sorry that this is so long & detailed. I wanted to let you know what I have been through & that I was still able to have a baby safely after a uterine rupture. By no means am I trying to scare you, but your doctor should keep a very close eye on you if you choose to get pregnant again. My doctor kept a close watch over me.
Personally your scar from the instrument is a lot smaller than my c-section scar, but I would deffinitly wait until your RE says that you are completely healed before trying again (if you choose).
If you have any questions about my experience you can send me a message.
God bless!

I am due with my 4th and all three so far have been c-sections. This one will be too of course. I'm just saying I know they say there is a chance of uterine rupture because of repeat c-sections but I don't know how the percentage of chance differs from what you have been told. What does your doctor say?

I'm not one for suing people but I hope these people are being held accountable for hurting you. :(

I do know of someone who had a uterine rupture during delivery once and she described it as "being thankful she was into extreme sports". I believe she also said it took something like 200+ stitches to fix her up. :(

I am really sorry for all you have been through. I would definitely talk to your doctor. If you decide to get pregnant again, you might want to make sure your doctor is a high risk doctor just to be safe.

Hi C., I had surgery on my uterus due to fibroids a few years back. Because of this surgery to my uterus I also had a chance of it rupturing if pregnant. At the time, my OB said if I were ever pregnant I could not carry to term for fear the labor could lead to a rupture, the baby's growth would need to be monitored closely and would need a planned C section before the baby was full term. I did get pregnant and was monitored closely by a specialist. An amnio was done at 36 weeks to test the baby's lung development and the planned C section was the same day. My daughter was perfect. Although a little early she had no developmental nor health issues. I had no issues during my pregnancy nor during her birth.

A LOT depends on where the perforation took place and how large it was. I help moderate a listserve for women who frequently need surgery involving the uterus. Many of our members have experienced a perforation but went on to have healthy pregnancies including vaginal delivery. 10% odds really are not that bad (I had a 90% chance of miscarriage--and suffered several losses but managed to have one full term delivery!). Just make sure you talk to your Dr about the character of the perforation, how the situation will be monitored during pregnancy, exact nature of the risk involved, step by step description of a rupture, results and treatment etc. Make sure you have an emergency plan in place just in case.

I know you do not want to hear this but...can you sue the hospital for the damage?..or have it repaired?

Nanc

I think you need a detailed conversation with your doctor, maybe schedule a special appointment. I would want to know how your risk compares to a woman who had a c-section (higher, lower, just different?) Do you need more time to heal? Can anything be done to improve those odds? I discussed all this with my midwife and 2 different ob's when I was considering a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). They showed a bunch of studies about VBACs and they way the counted what was a rupture made the the risks seem higher (anytime the scar stretched or stared to tear was a rupture, not just a severe split with a lot of bleeding). I'm not saying it is a good idea for you to get pregnant but get some detailed information and make an informed decision about how much of a risk you may be taking. I'd talk to at least 2 different doctors who have high risk practices, preferably ones in different practices with plenty of experience.

I think the risks of rupture quoted to me were lower than 10 % but I had a failure to progress c-section so they took their time with the c-section and closing everything up. Risks might be different for your injury vs a healed c-section and between different types of c-sections. I got most of the way through a VBAC and they they had to do an emergency c-section because the cord was around the baby's neck (which had nothing to do it being a VBAC!). Anyway, good luck making an informed decision.

I have had 6 natural births and 7 miscarriages. In '09 I had an emergency c-section because my babies heart could not handle natural delivery due to a heart defect. Three months later I became pregnant again. We had planned a c-section because the delivery date for my next child was only about a year later. The intern talked me into trying a VBAC with the assurrance that it was less than 1% chance that anything would go wrong. (She didn't explain what could go wrong and I didn't ask.) She told my doc that I wanted to try the VBAC and he said ok. Alot of the details are fuzzy but at some point my baby went into distress and we went in for emergency c-section. The intern was on top of me pushing Jesse out. He had to be resucitated. It was something like 5 min before I heard his cries. It took 2 hrs to stop all of my bleeding, 33 pads to soak up all of the blood, and 11 sutcher kits to stitch me up. My doc told me later that there was no reason for me to be alive and the doc in nursery was surprised that nothing was wrong with my baby. I say all of this so you can see that percentages mean nothing! You need to be closely monitored by a high risk doctor. Follow their advise. They know what they are talking about. I was lucky but I should have listened to my high risk docs and not let the intern guilt me into going against them.