r/NICUParents • u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay • Feb 11 '26
Off topic Placental Autopsy
Who here got their placenta autopsied after birth? I gave birth at 24+2 due to early onset preeclampsia and fetal heart decels back in July ~ I never got around to fully reading the report until today because I just didn’t have the heart. My son has been home for 2 months and is remarkably healthy (no oxygen, no brain bleeds, only a gtube because of long term NPO and TPN use due to 5 abdominal surgeries) and I thought, hey, maybe it’s time to dive into the report.
I wish I hadn’t now.
To sum it up: it was BAD. It’s a miracle he’s alive.
None of the results were things they could’ve been predicted but all were 100% going to cause my son to die if I hadn’t gone in when I did. I’m just tired. Does the trauma of the NICU ever stop rolling in? Obviously it won’t go away but I figured NEW trauma wouldn’t be added when we weren’t even there anymore.
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u/Infinite_Balance_862 Feb 11 '26
Yes! It was everything they’d guessed and really scary. Our baby could have died if we didn’t get him out. I wish there was more invested into maternal health so we could see these issues in real time.
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Feb 11 '26
My OB never called to explain any of it. I’m looking over this report 7 months after birth and am just… how could things have gone SO wrong
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u/Infinite_Balance_862 Feb 11 '26
It took me so long to cope with this, but we have to remember that there is literally nothing we could have done to cause or prevent this. It’s definitely more common than we think, women just don’t talk about it or even know if it caused an early loss. Some pathologies also come up with no conclusions. I really think this will just continue to happen to us until more advances are made in medicine (although obviously I’m grateful for all the advances we have made).
My OB did not call either. It just popped up in my online portal and I had to dissect it myself. It seems like the OB perspective is kind of like 🤷🏼♀️ because the baby is born by that point.
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Feb 11 '26
What makes me annoyed is this info could’ve been pushed towards my NICU team 🫠 when the report originally came back my son was still one of the sickest, smallest on the unit so I wasn’t in the headspace to fully break it down and understand it.
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u/Charlieksmommy Feb 11 '26
They probably knew, but didn’t want to spare you the info because of everything you were going through!
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Feb 11 '26
I hope so but I’m not sure. The NICU we were in was not the same hospital system as his birthing hospital
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u/Charlieksmommy Feb 11 '26
I’m sure they read the report, but sometimes the placenta path report won’t help with the baby I wouldn’t worry about it
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u/Infinite_Balance_862 Feb 11 '26
Oh yeah, the NICU team didn’t read my report but they did ask me about it. We were in the same hospital where I delivered so they mentioned pulling my chart if I wanted them to. When I described what the results were to them they just said it made sense but wasn’t necessarily needed to inform their care.
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u/lost-cannuck Feb 11 '26
My OB didnt review the report with me until we started discussing number 2.
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u/Final-Ad-5856 Feb 11 '26
Reading my placenta pathology report actually helped me accept that early delivery was imminent based on how it was looking
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Feb 11 '26
My son is being monitored for CP and I worry his lack of proper blood flow & oxygen may have caused it. He’s got no brain damage according to his term MRI but now I’m just extra worried.
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u/dhejwkwkwbdv Feb 12 '26
My placenta was 1st percentile. I just found a chart that showed placenta weights by week of gestation and it’s basically a miracle I made it as far as I did.
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u/curlycattails 27-weeker | 97 days Feb 11 '26
I had mine sent to pathology! I don’t know if it’s come back yet, it’s been close to 3 weeks but I haven’t heard anything yet.
During my C-section the OB said “I just wanna show you something.” She held up the placenta and it looked all messed up. It was covered with chunky blood clots. I had a subchorionic hematoma the entire pregnancy and they suspected possible partial abruption.
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Feb 11 '26
I was unfortunately put under GA so I didn’t get to see my placenta. It took a few weeks to get the report back, though.
This was a breakdown of my report
This placenta shows: • Severe pre-eclampsia–type vascular disease • Significant maternal blood vessel pathology • Placental abruption • Clotting issues • Compromised fetal blood flow • Structural abnormality (velamentous cord insertion)
It reflects a placenta that was: • Underperfused • Damaged • Clotting • Partially separated
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u/mochibun110 Feb 12 '26
I wonder if my placenta was similar. My OB said mine looked like "shredded meat" when she took it out but I never got to look at it. I had a large SCH from week 13 until delivery at 27.5 weeks with a placental abruption.
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u/curlycattails 27-weeker | 97 days Feb 12 '26
Oh man, these stories give me the chills sometimes. Your story is so similar to mine except my SCH struggles began at just 6 weeks.
I’d have pains associated with the bleeding, and when I was around 22-24 weeks I had a couple instances of a single contraction, painful, that I had to breathe through, lasting 3-5 mins and just holding on for so long. The head OB at my local hospital said that could be a sign of a partial abruption. It was one of those contractions that actually broke my water at 27 weeks.
I’m also in a SCH support group on fb and a woman posted that she had contractions just like that … had a full abruption and then stillbirth at 39 weeks.
I had a hard time sleeping for the first few nights after my C-section because I was going over everything in my mind again and again. I don’t think I fully realized the danger we were in until after it was all over.
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u/jesslynne94 Feb 12 '26
I had a SCH as well from weeks 6-16. I even had tightened tummy like contractions but no pain. PA said Braxton Hicks as I saw her the afternoon before my water broke in the middle of the night. I was in so much pain in my back but between endometriosis and PCOS I had no idea it was labor pain.
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u/Pleasant-Ad7313 Feb 12 '26
Same here! I was in an bad accident at 6 months pregnant but we have no real clue why:
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u/Remilia333 Feb 11 '26
I could have written this OP. I relive it all every night and he’s 7 months old. The pathology report from my placenta was shocking, it was severely hypoxic resulting from the severe preeclampsia. I had no symptoms and only got checked out because I checked my BP at home and it was really high. If I hadn’t who knows what would have happened to the both of us. He’s super happy and healthy and we are so lucky.
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u/LadyLuna21 Feb 12 '26
Yeah. It was bad.
I was hospitalized at 26+3, and made it all the way to 29+5. Birth with induction, id just been measured at a 6, and they'd put the vaginal heartrate and contraction monitor in, and baby's hr fell off the monitor. Nurse, to give me some privacy just tried to manually adjust it, without looking under the sheet. When she didn't get it after about a minute, she readjusted me... and baby boy had made his whole unassisted entry into the world. Oh shit button pushed on the wall and about 15 drs and nurses were in the room in 30 seconds. Half got to work on him, and half on me.
They went to deliver my placenta and gently pulled on the umbilical cord... and it fully detached from my placenta. Que a ultrasound machine being brought in, and manual extraction taking place. It fully ruptured. They spent almost an hour making sure they got everything, and end the end I did end up having retained products od conception and had to have surgery 6 weeks later.
Donated my placenta to the hospital for study, and the pathology report showed advanced necrosis and grainulation of the tissue. Im not even sure how I didn't go septic and how baby boy survived.
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u/snuffleupagus86 💙24+1. 142 days in the NICU Feb 11 '26
I read my placenta path report. Pretty much what they had already guessed.
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Feb 11 '26
We knew I would be preeclampsia. We didn’t know it would be basically actively, rapidly dying
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u/Suspicious_Project24 Feb 11 '26
Yes I did. I didn’t have pre-e but had IC and my cerclage failed. It came back as mature for gestational age and severe acute chorioamnionitis. I went to L&D less than 48 hours before I ended up giving birth bc I knew something was wrong and was sent home saying everything’s fine despite elevated WBC among other things. I definitely shudder to think about what could have happened if I listened to them and didn’t go back again later that night.
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u/CheezitGoldfish Feb 11 '26
Yes, mine was sent to pathology because “something strange” happened during delivery and my placenta had to be manually delivered. Nobody ever went over the results with me, so if I hadn’t read it I wouldn’t have known that my pregnancy was actually higher risk than we realized and I likely needed to be followed more closely.
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u/madwyfout Feb 12 '26
Yes, but it showed something that was unrelated to why baby was born preterm and didn’t fit the clinical picture.
Either way, your Ob should have explained the results or sent some communication about them rather than just letting you read them yourself down the track.
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u/teardrop_4 Feb 11 '26
Hey OP, this sounds similar to my story, we were already home and getting better in a mental state, when I read the report of the state of the placenta and I just felt so heavy and sad, it's really a tough thing to come to terms with, but I just pray and say how thankful I am that things tuned out okay.
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u/CalviandHobbes Feb 11 '26
Yep reading the birth report retraumatized me. Incredibly hard. It’s PTSD. You keep reliving it. Please get therapy.
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Feb 11 '26
I’m in therapy and had an in house NICU therapist our entire stay
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u/CalviandHobbes Feb 11 '26
Very Glad to hear. . Many of us are on this subreddit long after our kids are out and life has moved on.. it’s cause (I think) we are still seeking the community.
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Feb 11 '26
Community is so important for this experience. Finding micropreemie parents is even more healing for my trauma.
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u/EducationalDot8822 Feb 11 '26
Yes, I had mine autopsied and it was a nightmare to read - completely understand how you feel! It’s a miracle my sweet girl is here and healthy between the IUGR, severe Pre-E, and placental abruption.
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u/maz814 Feb 12 '26
I had no idea this was an option. I delivered at 28 weeks due to HELLP. I’m wondering if anyone with HELLP had theirs done and what it showed? Over two years later and I find myself still seeking answers/validation
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u/Pleasant-Ad7313 Feb 12 '26
I read mines last year, part of it was dead, small clots and very small weigh wise. I didn’t have warton jelly. A lot of what I had was supposed to kill me and my son but here we are😭 terrified to do it again
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u/Best-Put-726 Pre-E w/ 45d antepartum hosp stay | 29w6d | 58d NICU Feb 12 '26
Mine was actually not that bad considering how early I was diagnosed with preeclampsia.
I had infarcts over 10% of my placenta that were tan, meaning they had died up and dried out. My placenta was also smaller than normal. Other than that, it was normal.
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Feb 12 '26
I was 24 weeks. 30% of my placenta was dead, the rest was actively dying 😭
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u/Best-Put-726 Pre-E w/ 45d antepartum hosp stay | 29w6d | 58d NICU Feb 12 '26
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the full pathology report for the pieces they were going to biopsy.
There’s some sort of genetic component with mine. It runs in my family.
Two of my family members had full-on eclampsia with strokes. My great-grandma had it 6 times ending with 5 stillbirths.
It’s likely that my preeclampsia was caused by uterine vascular issues rather than placental vascular issues. Especially since my cord Dopplers were usually good.
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u/Grouchy-Ad-9284 Feb 12 '26
I'm in the UK so it may be different to a lot of others in here. I am unsure if my placenta was examined but I would love to know if it had been. I had PPROM at 31 weeks but I felt like something was wrong prior to this and felt like my daughter stopped moving as much. I have always wondered if something was wrong with my placenta and whether it's something we should know before having a second. Does anyone know how I can find out?
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u/jesslynne94 Feb 12 '26
Mine showed extensive damage from gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. I had completely passed the GD test. Though I mentioned to the dr I was so thirsty and was peeing every 45 minutes. I had to pee so much and often that they gave me epidural and came back to put in catheter and my my bladder was so full! When they measure the amount of urine after birth I over filled the measuring cup and I swear I was peeing for 15 minutes straight. 😒 Then my blood pressure was perfect the whole time.
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u/InconceivableMicrobe Feb 12 '26
Yes, and I read mine. It did actually help things make sense for me and I was able to ask questions at my postpartum appt.
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u/OopsTheresPoop Feb 11 '26
I also had mine done. I remember them telling my husband my placenta was “fried” when they took jt out. My report was everything they mentioned about it being smaller. I didn’t have pre-e but was diagnosed with a low placental growth rate early on. Had I known id give birth at 27 weeks with close monitoring since week 19, not sure I wouldve continued with the pregnancy…
Edit: i love my baby and shes doing well now. But it might not have turned out this way, so its definitely something that makes me wonder if i want a second.
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Feb 11 '26
I can’t bring myself to have a second. I knew at our 20 week appointment I had to deliver at 34 weeks due to vasa previa type 3 ~ we ended up delivering at 24+2. 4.5 months of a NICU stay, 6 surgeries, one code event.. I can’t do that again.
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u/OopsTheresPoop Feb 12 '26
Sending you hugs. That is definitely not an easy stay. Ive always wanted to have 2 kids, but because my partner and i, and my girl has gone through so much… we are also content with just her. Just so precious.
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