February 10th 2013, the day we found out we were expecting. The same day, one year later, was my first appointment with my fertility specialist.
After my water broke, and I delivered my daughter seven weeks early, I often wondered why. Did I do something wrong? Would it happen again if I were to get pregnant in a few years? Most women who experience preterm labor ask themselves these same questions. Many times there aren’t answers. For me, I didn’t have any answers until my daughter was almost three months old.
About two months after my daughter was born, I had some postpartum complications that required a D&C (Dilation and curettage). During this procedure, the doctor happened to discover that I had a uterine septum. In the simplest terms, a uterine septum is a wall in the middle of the uterus. Many women, like myself, can have this condition without ever knowing.
A uterine septum can vary in size and can be hard to detect with just an ultrasound. Usually a diagnosis will require more invasive measures because it can easily be confused with a heart shaped uterus. In fact, it is so difficult to tell, the doctor who performed my c-section of my second daughter’s birth thought that I had a heart shaped uterus during surgery.
A septum can cause problems with both fertility and pregnancy. Many women who have a uterine septum can still get pregnant like I did. However, it can cause miscarriage if the embryo settles on the wall’s lining. The lining does not have the same abilities or blood flow as the outer walls of the uterus to support and grow a baby. According to my doctor, it was a miracle that I was able to get pregnant at all with my daughter because my septum was extremely large.
A uterine septum can also cause problems later in pregnancy because the wall creates a much smaller space for the baby to grow and move. This can cause preterm labor or it can cause a baby to be in a breech position.
After my diagnosis, I was referred to a fertility specialist to undergo more tests. I had an MRI and an HSG along with a few ultrasounds to confirm the septum and it’s size. Then my doctor scheduled me for a hysteroscopy, an outpatient surgery to remove my septum. My doctor told me going into the surgery that they would not be able to remove the entire wall. She explained that removing too much of the wall, once you begin to reach muscle, can cause complications later on.
My procedure went really well and my doctor was very confident in my future fertility. In fact, we were blessed with a surprise pregnancy just three months after my surgery. I was able to carry my second daughter to just over 38 weeks, although she was breech. If you have any more specific questions about my diagnosis or treatment, please feel free to contact me.
Oh my goodness! I had a very similar situation in 2013 and hadn’t met anyone else that had. My daughter was born at 29weeks because of the septum nobody knew I had. My OB though I had a heart shaped uterus too and that was not it. I ended up having 2 procedures to have the septum removed. I was able to carry my son to 37weeks after the surgery. So good of you to share your story!
Hi Brittany –
Thanks for sharing your story. I gave birth to my son, via emergency c-section, in July 2013. I was only 29 weeks pregnant. My water broke at 26 weeks, and I remained on hospitalized bed rest for three weeks until I began having contractions and developing an infection. During my c-section, it was discovered that I, too, have a uterine septum.
After 10 long and traumatic weeks in the NICU, my son was released. He is now 2 1/2 and he is healthy and amazing in every way. My husband and I are terrified of trying for a second child, however, as our experience with our first child left us somewhat broken for a long, long time. I somewhat recently found out about the Hysteroscopy procedure and I’m thinking about scheduling an informational appointment. Do you know, is this a procedure that is typically covered by insurance or is it considered elective? Does an OB/GYN perform the procedure, or a specialist? I don’t even know where to begin.
I’m so happy to hear that it was successful for you. Your story is gives me hope that I, one day, will also be able to experience the joy of a long and healthy pregnancy.
I have the same issue and I am on my 4th pregnancy. This issue has caused a lot of problems and I wish I had known earlier it could be taken care of quite easily. Thanks for sharing your story. Glad to know someone else is like me! Going to ultrasounds is always fun since they look at me like I’m an alien for having a unique uterus!
Lisa- I had to have 2 surgeries to remove my septum totally and both were covered by insurance after my deductible. My OB did the first attempt and wasn’t happy with the results. He then sent me to a feterility specialist because that dr was used to seeing “interesting” things. He did the surgery as a outpatient procedure and released me to try for baby 2 after 4mths.
Thank you much for sharing your story with me too! It was a lonely time going through the process since it is so rare. I am so glad everything worked out for you!
Hi Lisa! Thank you so much for your comment! I am so sorry about everything you had to go through, it is so scary. I am so glad your son is thriving! The insurance piece was very tricky. When my septum was discovered, I was referred by my OB to a fertility specialist for the testing and surgery. It was SO hard getting the appointments, prescriptions and other things covered by my insurance. I didn’t have “infertility” coverage at all, so since everything I was doing was technically through an infertility clinic, things had to be coded just right. I would be happy to help you in any way if you want to send me your direct email. Good luck with your decision!
Thank you so much for sharing your story too! I never knew such a thing even existed before having my daughter. Good luck with your pregnancy!
Hey I have had a very similar situation within the past 8 years. 3 miscarriages, I have a septum also that was partially removed by my fertility specialist after my 3rd miscarriage. I am not pregnant again for the first time after surgery. I was wondering, did your doctor ever put you on bedrest any time through your pregnancy and did you have any more complications with bleeding or cramping a lot too?
Wow! Your story is almost me to a tee! So happy to hear the good results 🙂
If you don’t mind contacting me I would love to ask you a few questions! carriekirby927@hotmail.com.
Thank you! I just sent you an email 🙂
Can u correct uterine septum without surgery if u could email me at katielamb32@gmail.com
Hi Katie,
I don’t believe it is something that can be fixed without surgery. I would check with your doctor though because every situation is unique. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Brittany
I was wondering if you could e-mail me. My e-mail is victoria_brown2010@yahoo.com.
Hi,
I have a complete septum in my uterus but I don’t want to do the surgery for fear of becoming infertile. Me and my husband are going to ttc and see what happens :/. Thanks for sharing your story. Gives me hope that I can have a healthy baby even with the septum.
Wow great story! A year ago, at 10.5 weeks I was diagnosed with blighted ovum and complete septum uterus. Had to do a pill abortion. The doctor at the time didn’t even say much about the ubbornality in uterus said its no problem and that blighted ovum happens only once in a lifetime. So I didn’t seek any other help or advice. A week ago I had another blighted ovum, this time at 9 weeks and they couldn’t tell why and didn’t even point out the uterus abnormality. I panic over the fact it’s a 2nd blighted ovum and today went to a specialist and moment he heard I have septum uterus he said it needs to be removed and it’s definitely what’s causing the miscarriages. He didn’t do an ultrasound because the tech who has an expertise in septum uterus wasn’t there so he ordered me to do a whole lot of blood work and asked to come back Thursday. He is not covered by my insurance (HMO) so worried it’s goin to cost a fortune. I’m also going to my regular OBG and also see what she will say. I’m a little worried cz I read online the surgery can cause infirtility 🙁
Hi!
I’m going in for a hysteroscopy tomorrow and was just googling around to see other people’s experiences. Were you in any pain after?
I delivered my 1 year old son via emergency c-section at 29 weeks– 2 days after my water broke unexpectedly. My doctors keep telling me that my water breaking isn’t related to the uterine septum, but I feel like they are. Did your drs confirm for you that the two were connected? I know you said you had a surprise pregnancy but did you see high risk doctors or anything during that pregnancy? I’m scared of going early with a 2nd but I definitely want more children. Would love to hear more about your experience if you could email me or respond here!
Thanks!
I miscarried early and when I went in for the first ultrasound they discovered they didn’t see the baby they were supposed to but did see what they thought were two uteri. Fortunately there was only one with a complete septum. Since November I’ve had two surgeries, the first one they thought went perfect and got it all but upon post op visit there was still more septum than they wanted to leave so I went in today for a second hysteroscopy to remove the rest. He still wasn’t able to get all that he wanted today but has gotten almost all of it. Now I’m trying to decide if I should try to conceive and hope I can maintain a healthy pregnancy with the 6 mm of septum left of have another procedure. Can any of you offer advice? I don’t know where to go from here?
I’m so sorry Ashley! I’m glad they were able to remove a lot of the septum. My doctor wasn’t able to completely remove mine either. I’m not sure exactly how much is left but I know it’s there. I’m sure that’s why my second daughter was breech and came at 38 weeks. I did take progesterone and see my doctor often but it was a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. I think 6mm still leaves plenty of room for a healthy baby to grow!
I just had my surgery yesterday Dr said everything looks good I have a follow up in about 6 weeks. I don’t feel any cramp and there wasn’t much bleeding. When there was bleeding which was the day off if seemed light in color like the salinethey used. I get a quick pain here and there but no real cramping. I cannot wait to start trying, have a successful pregnancy and grow our family. The septum was found las year August, but I didn’t want think it was serious plus the doctor diagnosed me with PCOS which he said would make it hard to conceive. So we was shock when we found out we got pregnant and even more shock, sad and scared when I miscarried at 8-10 weeks. Love reading successful stories.
I am so sorry about your miscarriage. It sounds like your surgery and recovery is going really well. Please let us know about your growing family! I will be thinking and praying for you!
Hi dear , I got my large septum removed two days back as I had 2 miscarriages , can you suggest when should I go for Ttc again
Hi Kiran,
I’m very sorry about your miscarriages. I would definitely talk to your doctor about when the best time would be to start trying. I know my doctor wanted me to have one normal cycle before we thought about trying, but I didn’t have a history of miscarriages so it could be different. Good luck!
Hi similar story.. i had my first miscarriage when i was three months pregnant reason no heart beat. But later my bleeding wasn’t stop after 3 months and i diagnosed with uterine septum my dr did 3d ultrasound he said its so broad and untreatable but you can try to conceive. I m soo afraid of an other miscarriage should i try to conceive with septum or go for 2nd dr opinion pleaseee help me
Hi Ayesha,
I am so sorry to hear that. I would definitely get a second opinion especially if the diagnosis was through ultrasound. There are a few other tests they can perform that might give some more insight.
Good luck!
Brittany
My name is Marisa, I am currently 12 weeks pregnant with a partial uterine septum. I had a rough road. I lost my son last year at about 21 weeks, but the cause of my preterm labor was me having an infection. I had a lot of issues with my pregnancy with my son. Bleeding and passing clots at 6 weeks, 14 weeks and 17 weeks. I had a low fluid scan at about 20 weeks and each and every time my old OB thought everything was normal and my son was growing on track and his heartbeat always strong. About a week and a half after my low fluid scan – I went into labor in my home. I delivered my son in my toilet. It was the worst experience on my life. I had a long recovery; two hospital stays, two week long rounds of IV antibiotics, with each time being sent home with oral antibiotics, two D&C’s, a laparoscopic surgery (which this is where my OB focused on my septum and said it is very muscular and flexible -not fibrous). I begged my new OB to remove my septum, but she talked me into not doing it. Although the cause of losing my son seems to aim more towards infection rather than my septum being the cause, it is still in the back of my mind.
I am 12 weeks and thus far I have had zero complications, I am much more calm this time around, but in the back of my head I keep thinking about this septum. This time around I am monitored more closely, I have been going every two weeks. Starting at 14 weeks they will start to measure my cervical length (at my anomaly scan with my son, they distinguished I did not have an incompetent cervix), but because I went into preterm labor they do not want to rule it out. Also from 16 weeks to 36 weeks I will get progesterone shots.
Apart of me feels, like I wish I would have it removed, but I trust my OB with everything. She saved my life last year when losing my son. I just pray everyday everything is smooth sailing from here.
Oh Marisa thank you for taking the time to share your story. I am so sorry about your son! I know what it feels like to have the septum always in the back of your mind, but it sounds like your doctor feels confident about this pregnancy. I will be praying everything goes smoothly for you and please keep us updated on your pregnancy!
Thank you for sharing your story! I too miscarried with my first pregnancy but I was earlier than you, only around 6 weeks. It was during my first ultrasound I discovered I was miscarrying and that I have a uterine septum. I had two surgeries to remove the septum but still have 6mm left, my ob says that may be enough but to consider another surgery. I am now around 5 weeks pregnant and that septum is always in the back of my mind. I have has zero cramping or bleeding this time, unlike last time so I am hoping things will be better this time. I’m praying for peace of mind for you and for the health of both you and your baby!
Thank you for your reply! It is so weird to come to find out of my uterine abnormality and not realize there are many women with the same issue. It stinks, always having the thought in the back of my head, but everything is going so amazingly well. From what I read miscarriage early on is the main concern and I guess people always believe the baby will push the septum out of the way, especially since mine is partial and a lot
more flexible. My OB actually told me that last week she delivered someone with two uteruses and two cervix. The baby actually pushed the other uterus all the way to those side! She went to term. I just pray everyday that in the end I deliver a term baby that is just healthy. The same with You.
Thank you for sharing your story! I also had a miracle baby (in 2014) without knowing that I had a septum. My water broke at 28 weeks and I was able to stay pregnant until 30 weeks on bed rest at the hospital until infection set in. Last year I miscarried at 7 weeks and then was unable to get pregnant after. My doctor convinced me to have an SIS ultrasound and that was when we discovered the septum. I had my surgery just last week and will have a repeat SIS in 3 months (after which we can TTC). I found your post because I have become somewhat consumed with the whole thing. This waiting around truly is the hardest part and I find it very encouraging to see other successful stories! Did you also do progesterone with your pregnancy?
Thank you for your comment Karen! I am so sorry to hear about your miscarriage but I’m glad you are on the road to recovery and getting the treatment you need. Please let us know how everything goes! I did do progesterone with my second pregnancy! My doctor prescribed it for the first trimester and then from about 20-37 weeks.
Hi Brittany I have utrine septem removal surgery very soon please contact me to ask you questions how yours went this is my contact email Oceanview869@gmail.com
Thank you so much for your post. It’s comforting to know there are other incredible women out there who have had similar stories. I have a personal story that I would like to sharet. I’m hoping it will be helpful for those who are on a similar journey. This journey can certainly feel very lonely. My husband and I got pregnant right away and didn’t even realize I had a septum until I was 22 weeks pregnant. At the time my doctor didn’t seem too concerned about it. I did however, have a rough pregnancy with bleeding at 13 weeks, bed rest, preterm labor at 34 weeks and eventually an emergency c-section at 36 weeks. My miracle baby was 6lb.14 oz! She came out black and blue since she was wedged around my very large septum. She’s healthy and perfect and we are very aware of the miracle that we have been blessed with. It’s been a rough road trying to conceive baby #2. We tried for a year since my OB seemed to think that an embryo would implant on the same side as my daughter did. I was late a couple of times but my hunch was telling me my septum was in the way. I followed up with a fertility specialist who said that my uterine septum was one of the largest he’s ever seen. During my first procedure, he was conservative (to say the least) and said he removed 90%. We tried for three months post surgery unsuccessfully and eventually went through two rounds of IVF with this same doctor. IVF was recommended by him since he identified our case as “secondary unexplained infertility”. We had one healthy embryo after the second IVF. We were so excited to start our journey. When I went for the pregnancy blood test post transfer, it was negative. The doctor was floored and assumed it might be the remaining septate or an auto immune disease. After several blood tests and 3 more opinions from other specialists, we come to find out that I do not have an auto immune disease, my ovarian reserve is normal, tubes clear, husband clear, everything checked out fine and the likely cause of the failed IVF pregnancy was the 4cm septum, which was covering 70% of my uterine cavity. All three doctors said the septum needed to be removed to make room for implantation. I just had my second uterine septum resection three weeks ago (one year after my first surgery). My new specialist will perform another diagnostic histeroscopy in a couple of weeks to ensure that he removed all of not almost all of the septum. He says that is the most important step…to examine the uterus post surgery to “prove cure”. It can also be done via HSG and ultrasound. This is standard procedure, which was never done by my original reproductive endocrinologist. My advice to all women who have septums is to follow your gut always and get more than one opinion. Be your own advocate for your health. The road we have been on has been emotionally painful hard on my body physically and very hard on our bank account. We never lose sight of our rainbow baby and hope we can move on from this with positive outcomes. I would love to discuss this with anyone who needs advice. I’m looking for a support system too since I don’t know anyone personally who can relate in the slightest. Baby dust to all!
Amazing!!
I had a healthy first pregnancy. Delivered a 7lb 3oz girl (on my due date) followed by a miscarriage 2 years later at 9-10 weeks. I went on to have a 9lb 5oz son the following year. Then 2 years after that I had my 3rd baby at 37 weeks she was 6lb 12oz. All 3 were such easy pregnancies. So much so that I’d brag about how much I loved when I was pregnant. Then in 2012 I got pregnant. This time our baby was breech. I went to a high risk OB for this pregnancy. I had several “Braxton Hicks” contractions leading up to delivery and I was very uncomfortable all the time. His head was up by my rib cage. So at 35 weeks my Dr. performed a version to turn the baby. He said he never had one baby flip back in his 25+ years of being an OB. Needless to say, my lil guy flipped back before my Dr left the room. I thought I was just crazy and didn’t mention it. Exactly a week later I went in to labor but my cervix was only dilated to what the nurse referred to as a “wiggle finger”… The hospital did do an ultra sound and confirmed he was breech, but that since I was only 36 weeks along, they would not perform a c-section unless it was an emergency. We were told to go home and wait for my water to break I was so upset! I knew what labor felt like! I had been through it 3 times before and did not want to be sent home. They unhooked me from the machines and got the discharge papers ready which took about 30-40 minutes and in that time my contractions became so much stronger. I couldn’t even speak. So my husband said to the nurses that something changed and to please check me again. They refused!! Then nurse said that the baby wouldn’t be coming out on his own so wait it out at home… They gave me an ambien to take to help me sleep when we got home and said call them or come back when my water broke…. So my husband went to get the car and I went to meet him outside. In those 5 minutes I had 5 very strong contractions. We left the hospital and called my OB’s office immediately and got there in les than 10 minutes. .As soon as we arrived, he checked me and I was dilated to a 5. His office was connected to another hospital, so that’s where we were having the baby. My first c-section, I was so scared. It took a while for the Dr. to get him out and we noticed more and more Dr.’s and nurses were coming into the room. So to get to the point…. my son was stuck in the septum. There was a hole in the septum and his head and one arm were on one side and the rest of his body was on the other side. His arm was black and it took a while to get him cut out and it seemed like forever before they got him to breathe. Sorry for the long story but according to all of the Dr.’s involved they said he was a miracle and that we would have had a different outcome if it was not for my Dr. I had never found anyone else that actually had a similar situation as I had. Happy to have found this board. Also a heads up, I found out it can be hereditary. My oldest daughter found out today that she has the septum too and will get it removed before she is ready to start a family.
Hi, Did your Septum removal/hysteroscopy require an IUD during recovering and healing to prevent scar tissue? Thanks!
Hi Galilee,
My doctor didn’t offer that option, but she did place a balloon type catheter in my uterus for the first 3-4 days after my operation for the same sort of reasons. I hope that helps!
Good luck!
Hello britney can i get your email address i wwnna discuss something
I found out earlier this year that I have a uterine septum. I have never been pregnant but met with a fertility specialist because I was having a hard time conceiving (unrelated to the septum). We discovered in an ultrasound that my septum is 1.6 cm long. You mentioned that you had a “large” septum so I am wondering if it was similar to mine or larger/smaller. I’m very nervous about a preterm birth but I am on a list for the surgery but it could take about a year until I have the surgery and I’m getting so impatient I am debating starting to TTC in the meantime.
Hello Ladies!
I have already loss 5 pregnancies and it was already late discovered that i had a septum last year March 24, 2017 I had my septum resection and just last week August 16, 2018 I wonder that my period doesn’t arrived then, when I was able to test and it resulted to a positive one. I’m full of hope reading your great stories here. I’m hoping that this pregnancy will be successful. I am now 5 weeks pregnant.!
Hello, I have just read your post since I have the same case I lost pregnancy 5 times and my doc cut for me the septum just last week. Is your Pregnancy going normal this time? All my hope for you
How much time does it take to recover?? I m planning for my surgery had two loses … i found my septum 1.1 cm first dr said its untreatable after second loses my dr is more concern now