About Placenta Previa

You may have already heard about placenta previa. If not, the main question on your mind is: What is placenta previa?

Placenta previa is a term used to describe a placenta that has implanted itself very near or over your cervix.***

*** The cervix is your baby's only natural exit-way from your uterus.

Photo from Samuel's Birth Diary

About Placenta Previa: How Common is it?

Placenta previa is said to occur in about 1 in 200 pregnancies. However, before you learn more about placenta previa, let's learn a tad more about the placenta.

Your placenta is a round shaped organ that is quite amazing. It is your baby's lifeline and the connection between your unborn baby and you. At birth, your baby's placenta will weigh about one pound.

The function of the placenta is to provide your baby with oxygen and nutrients, as well as remove waste material from your baby's environment which will be transported to your kidneys via your circulatory system - blood. Your baby's placenta acts also as a barrier against infections and some potentially harmful substances. It does not however protect your baby from cigarette smoke, medications or illicit drugs.

Your baby's placenta is formed of the same cells that form your baby. The umbilical cord will grow from the placenta to your baby.

After your baby's birth - when it is no longer needed - the placenta will detach from the wall of your uterus and be birthed. The placental site will bleed for a while until it is totally healed - from 2 to 6 weeks or more.

This amazing organ - in most pregnant moms - will form and grow as it should - away from your cervix. Occasionally, the placenta takes of location in the wrong place and when it is located near or over your cervix. It is called placenta previa.

About Placenta Previa: Types of Placenta Previa

There are three types of placenta previa:

Note about placenta previa: Do not confuse a low lying placenta with a marginal placenta previa. In a low lying placenta, your placenta lies low in the uterus but isn't quite close enough to your cervix to qualify as marginal placenta previa. Low lying placentas usually do not cause any signs or symptoms during pregnancy. Occasionally, they do cause increased bleeding after birth.

About Placenta Previa: Signs and Symptoms

Many women with placenta previa will have no symptoms. However, most of the time you will have some warning signs that everything is not as it should be.

You should suspect placenta previa if you suffer from these symptoms:

Note about placenta previa: Bleeding in the first trimester is common and most of the time there is no cause for alarm. If you have placenta previa, the bleeding will usually occur at the end of the second trimester and into the third.

About Placenta Previa: How is it Diagnosed?

Nowadays most cases of placenta previa are found through an ultrasound. However, a good midwife can detect the placement of your placenta by listening with a Doppler or a Fetoscope. If she suspects a low lying placenta she may ask that you get an ultrasound.

Please keep in mind that - 9 times out of ten - most cases of placenta previa that are discovered before 20 weeks of pregnancy will correct themselves. As your uterus expands, your placenta "travels" upwards and away from your cervix.

About Placenta Previa: Risk Factors

Placenta previa is more common in women who smoke and/or use cocaine. Those are obviously risk factors that are under your control.

Other risk factors are:

Women over 35.

A history of five or more pregnancies.

A history of a past placenta previa.

Scars in the lining of your uterus.

Past surgeries or tests that affected the lining of the uterus, such as uterine surgery, dilation and curettage ( also called D&C), etc.

A past C-section

A large placenta, such as with a multiple pregnancy

An abnormally shaped uterus

Being Asian

About Placenta Previa: What Can You Expect?

Well, it all depends on some factors such as:

How much you are bleeding?

How you are doing health wise?

How your baby is doing?

How close you are to giving birth?

If you are diagnosed with placenta previa, you can expect to be asked to avoid sexual intercourse or vaginal exams (which you should refuse anyway for being useless and dangerous.)

If you are bleeding, you may have to stay in the hospital. If it is deemed that you and/or your baby are not doing well, your baby may need to be delivered by C-section.

If you have a total or partial placenta previa, your baby will be delivered by c-section for in this case, placenta previa is life threatening to both of you.

Of course, if you were planning a homebirth and you are diagnosed with placenta previa, your birth attendant will follow closely. If as your pregnancy progresses, the placenta previa does not correct itself, you will need to give birth in a hospital for your safety and your baby's.

If you remember anything about placenta previa, remember that it is a rare occurrence. Most of the time, the placenta implants as it should - away from your cervix.

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