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Mara04 asked on 4/22/2009 1:03:53 PM Report this post
Apparently event hough you've had the baby the issues can continue. I've looked all over for an answer to this and can't find what i'm looking for so I thought ot post it here maybe someone knows. So when had my epidural they gave me a catheter, as they always do. Well, I'm pretty sure I didn't move very much during the end of my labor but it's likely it got shifted around during pushing since I had to puh so fast. So now, I tink I may be bleeding a bit form my urethra where th cather was palced. Does anyone kow if this is normal? I'm trying relal yhard not to panic. I'm almost sure I have a UTI cause i'm so prone to them but the other day when I wa sin the shower I was looking at the selling and bruising and noticed a small amount of blood seeping from there. I found ONE site online when I googled it that said it was normal to tear a bit if you jerk the catheter around and I'm sure it got rustled up some with pushing. It hurt like hell when they took it out but they didn't say anything about it at the time and when I mentioned it to the public health nurse who was here yesterday she just kind of said "oh, ok" and nothing more. So I'm wondering if it's normal to have like a cut that will heal or somerthing? It only minorly stings when I pee and of course i'm still using the peri bottle. Would love it if anyone can help me out here cause I don't go back to my Dr til May 4th and getting in sooner is hell. Thanks in advance

user786 said on 4/22/2009 1:14:14 PM Report this post
hi......i read your post ans thought i would try and help even though i have no experience in this so i decided to google it and this is what i got [sorry if its what you already got also]

Why do I need a urinary catheter with my epidural?

A catheter is a thin, flexible tube passed into the bladder to drain the urine collected there. The catheter reaches the bladder via the urethra, the tube connecting the bladder to the outside of the body. The entrance to the urethra is situated immediately in front of your vagina. The catheter may be inserted for a few moments in order to empty the bladder (during labour, maybe), or left in for a day or more (as after a caesarean section). Having an epidural (walking or otherwise) greatly increases the chance that you will need to be catheterised. Although I have no exact figures, I guess that at least four out of five women with an effective epidural will need catheterisation at some point during labour. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, as you say, the epidural may dull the sensation of a full bladder and reduce your ability to deliberately empty your bladder. Secondly, even with a so-called 'walking epidural', many women find it hard to be fully mobile. This means that using a bedpan may be safer and more appropriate than walking to the toilet and passing urine whilst perched on a bedpan is difficult at the best of times. Thirdly, although some anaesthetists would argue otherwise, having an epidural increases your chance of an assisted delivery - ventouse or forceps. Passing a catheter to make sure that the bladder is completely empty before either procedure is considered good practice and is almost unavoidable. Catheterisation may occasionally be necessary at other times during labour, even if you do not have an epidural. Again, I have no exact figures (I don't think anybody has!) but, if forced to make a wild guess, I would suggest that one in ten women labouring without an epidural may need to be catheterised for one reason or another. If you do not pass urine regularly during labour, your bladder may become very full. If this is not relieved by the time you start to push, the bladder and urethra may be damaged because they cannot move out of the way of the baby's advancing head. The problem is that at this late stage passing urine spontaneously may be very difficult - because you are also trying to cope with strong, frequent contractions and/or your baby's head is pressing against your urethra. Your midwife may then offer to pass a catheter to relieve the situation. (In an ideal world, this situation should not arise, since the midwife attending you should remind you and assist you to go to the toilet every 1-2 hours throughout labour.) If your bladder is full after the birth of the baby, delivery of the placenta may be delayed. The full bladder may prevent effective uterine contractions and block the descent of the placenta. Excessive bleeding may occasionally result. In these circumstances, it may not be safe or appropriate to wait to use a bedpan or walk to the toilet - so your midwife will once again offer to empty your bladder with a catheter. If you have to give birth by caesarean, a catheter will always be inserted into your bladder to empty the bladder and reduce the risk of damage to this organ during the operation. This catheter will usually remain in place for 24 hours. Catheterisation is an 'aseptic technique' - a procedure performed under sterile conditions, using sterile gloves and equipment. Even so, catheterisation increases the risk of urinary tract infection, probably because of the almost inevitable bruising and mild trauma caused by passing the catheter. The longer the catheter is in place, or the more often catheterisation is needed, the greater the risk of infection. Catheterisation is painless if performed whilst you are under the effect of epidural or spinal anaesthetic. In the absence of anaesthetic, most women find the procedure very uncomfortable or painful, but generally for only a few seconds. You can, of course, in any of these circumstances refuse to be catheterised - if you are quick! Sometimes the procedure is done so swiftly that you may not even notice what is happening, especially if you have an epidural. Although ideally you should be informed of the procedure and your consent obtained in advance, in reality many practitioners consider catheterisation a necessary component of normal management of most obstetric problems - so will simply go ahead. And, most of the time catheterisation is safe, simple, and very effective. There is also, rightly or wrongly, the unspoken expectation that by agreeing to have an epidural or assisted delivery (for example) you are also agreeing to the 'package' of obstetric and midwifery care that these procedures may involve; continuous fetal monitoring, confinement to bed, episiotomy, catheterisation - and so on. This is particularly so in an urgent or emergency situation. Although most practitioners will try to carefully explain each step of the procedure, it is often left up to the woman and/or her partner to question or refuse particular elements of care. Whether or not this is right or ethical in all circumstances is a subject ripe for debate! I suggest that you note your concerns about catheterisation clearly on your birth plan. Ask your midwife to assist you to pass urine naturally throughout labour, and to warn you of the circumstances in which catheterisation may be necessary. Help yourself by staying as mobile as possible and (unless told otherwise) drinking sips of water throughout labour to maintain a good flow of urine. I am sorry this is such a long answer to a very straightforward question. It is certainly a question that I am glad you have asked. Writing this answer has made me think about some of the routine things that midwives and doctors do - and has reinforced to me the importance of good communications (in all directions!) and women being fully informed and involved in their care.

user786 said on 4/22/2009 1:18:16 PM Report this post
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sbkWt6jjSdUC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=catheter+caused+tear+at+birth&source=bl&ots=moI2lOot5r&sig=cFrlq9LmJQ3BOhd3tpw7u_4NrFA&hl=en&ei=8V3vSbPHF4bUjAex7ZUe&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA11,M1

don't know if you will be able to see the above link

user786 said on 4/22/2009 1:23:18 PM Report this post
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080226211740AABtbxh

Mara04 said on 4/22/2009 1:25:12 PM Report this post
Yes I culd thanks. It was helpful but not for my problem now lol I'm afraid it might have caused some damage when they removed it. I tried looking of bleeding from the urethra and got massive issues for 80 yr old men lol Not really what I needed lol I suppose I just need to know if some trauma to the urethra is normal and it's ok if it bleeds when a catheter comes out. But google doesn't take that much info LOL

mich625 said on 4/22/2009 2:34:23 PM Report this post
Mara, is it possible that you do have a UTI and that is the cause of the blood? I know that I've had blood in my urine with UTI's before, but never noticed it like that. I'm sorry, I don't have any other information for you...maybe you should call your doctor and tell them what is going on....they may make room for you to come in earlier?

Mara04 said on 4/22/2009 7:26:43 PM Report this post
Oh I'm almost sure I have one lol I never feel them but this is also different, I never gave birth then got one lol But of course it's hard to know where the blood is coming from when i'm still bleeding from birth but I'm sure it's coming from there. I just don't know if that much is normal. Every time I've had a bladder or kidney infection they said there was blood in my urine but nothing I could ever see. I just knew by how cloudy the urine was that i had one. This time its like, less blood then a period seem to be coming out through the urethra. I wish I knew of someone to call and ask before going to the Dr's or hospital. I'm going to try and call the office tomorrow and explain to the nurse whats up and maybe they will just give me a prescription. I always gett he same thing, the awful tasting Macrobid LOL I do appreciate the imput though. I figure it's not so bad because it doesn't burn when I pee but where I bruised does LOL TMI alert, but I seriously didn't know that your labia got bruised during a natural delivery. I looked at it and it was BLACK lol I was like whoa lol cool lol

Kylie said on 4/22/2009 7:43:06 PM Report this post
i'm an RN and i have placed my fair share of catheters, so i thought maybe i could help out. the catheter shouldn't have "moved" during labor. it's possible that it was tugged, that would cause immediate bleeding. plus with a catheter, that is a foreign object to your body, and anything like that can cause an infection. so i would say you might have a pretty bad UTI, if you're indeed bleeding from your urethra. i don't know about the black labia. is it more purplish? i know you can get like a skid mark on the peritenium, so maybe that could cause some discoloration. but i maybe would check into it if it was indeed black.
also they really should send your urine for a c/s (culture and sensitivity) so they medicine that they are giving you is actually sensitive to the bacteria that you have. because different bacterias need different antibiotics.
good luck to you, and congrats on the new babe!

Mara04 said on 4/22/2009 7:48:07 PM Report this post
Oh yeah it was a total bruise purpley black lol I wasn't worried about that lol Thanks for the info about the UTI though. It's not like REALLY serious to be bleeding form there though is it? Like an antibiotic will help? I go to the doctors again May 4th, it'll be pretty hard to get in before that but I will try. I think i kinda hit it lucky that you are an RN LOL Thanks for the imputI feel a lot less scared now because I know UTI's can be treated.

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