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What Is a Retained Placenta ?
In most instances, the placenta is delivered within 30 minutes after the birth of your baby and is a routine part of the delivery. In some cases, a piece of placenta remains inside the uterus and does not deliver spontaneously. When this happens, the uterus cannot contract adequately, resulting in vaginal bleeding that can be heavy.

In other cases, the placenta does not separate because it's still attached to the wall of the uterus. This can be a very serious situation. However, this complication is rare.

Bleeding is usually severe after delivery, and surgery may be necessary to stop it. An attempt may be made to remove the placenta by D&C.

Reasons for an abnormally adherent placenta are many. It is believed a placenta may attach over a previous Cesarean-section scar or other previous incisions on the uterus. The placenta may attach over an area that has been scraped, such as with a D&C, or over an area of the uterus that was infected at one time.

Your healthcare provider will pay attention to the delivery of your placenta while you are paying attention to your baby. Some people ask to see the placenta after delivery; you may wish to have your caregiver show it to you.

During the birth of my third child the placenta had to be removed manually. It is quite a difficult procedure to perform as the womb is very soft just after having had a baby, and one has to be reasonably gentle when feeling inside the womb to gradually ease the placenta off.