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This is more of a health problem than a parenting problem but I'm hoping there is someone who can give me some input.

My son's daughter is suffering from something called subchorionic hematoma, which is a blood clot in the uterus. She is 12 weeks pregnant and has had the problem for three weeks. Initially she thought she was miscarrying but the bleeding has now slowed and the doctors are waiting to see if the clot will be absorbed.

Is this a reasonably common problem? Does anyone have any idea of the prognosis? And anything which could help keep her calm and positive?

I have never heard of it I am afraid.

I can only wish her luck and I hope that the doctors can help her.

I don't think it is very common and outcomes vary according to how large it is. The vast majority simply bleed out on their own or are absorbed back into the body. The dr's wait and see approach suggest that it is probably small and shouldn't pose a problem, larger ones carry a miscarriage risk of between 1 and 3%, but unfortunately I couldn't find any information on how large was considered "large".

I think the thing to do is just take it easy, stay calm and remain positive - the odds are greatly in her favour. Some drs recommend refraining from sex too, though others don't.

I sure she wouldn't, but just in case, she shouldn't be using tampons to absorb the flow, pads are much better.

Thanks for that, Clara. I appreciate that bit of reassurance, I did wonder if the doctors want to "wait and see" they may not be too concerned about imminent problems. I suppose my other thought was that if it is likely to go wrong there is nothing much to do anyway but wait and see. I'm certainly going to do my best to keep her calm and positive. I'm hoping for the best for them. She is now on two week's sick leave with instructions to rest completely and it seems she is doing as she is told. I'm concerned that they came to visit us her in France in the last few weeks and hope the flights didn't contribute in any way.

They have a five year old, she has suffered several miscarriages already in the last 12 months and she has also had to have a serious kidney operation in the last couple of years. Apparently she had three kidneys, two of which were poor. The worst was removed to give the other one a chance to improve. I suspect this has nothing to do with the current problem but I can´t help being concerned as I know how much they want this to work out.

I've suggested some linden tea to help her relax, but can´t think of anything else to keep stress-free. Any suggestions would be gratefully received!

Just as an update and possibly as re-assurance to anyone else who might have the same problem. Clare has now had another scan and been told the clot has been completely re-absorbed and everything is fine. Their five year old is tickled to be having a new sister (she insisted on the nurse telling her what the baby was and the "secret" lasted about two seconds once she was out of the hospital).

Thanks for the input that you were able to give me too.

Ok. The amniotic sac is actually two sacs: the amnion and the chorion, the chorion being the outer one. You also have chorionic villi, which are the little tendrils of placenta which embed into the uterus. A sub-chorionic haematoma is basically a bleed under the placenta, within the chorionic villi, and they're very common indeed. As has already been said, the majority are re-absorbed into the body, as has happened in your daughter's case. The doctor's "wait and see" approach is absolutely the right one, since there's almost nothing that you can do about it. And remember, the 1-3% of miscarriages is 1-3% of the large haematomas, not all haematomas. But when I was a Babyworld moderator, we used to get one or two queries about these every day!

Anyway, hope that helps. I know it's academic now anyway, but someone else might find it useful.

With love
Lynne

ps. Love the big sister story. Aren't they great?