# How do they know the placenta is ageing?



## cranberry987

Im starting to have to think about induction. I was pre-diabetic pre pregnancy and my blood sugars have been fine so far but theyre started to creep up this week - going to go super super healthy to try and get em back down, but I think im going to have to accept that insulin then induction is the way its gonna happen. 

I will want monitoring tho to check for placental aging - not gonna just believe one weak study which showed that insulin ages the placenta. How do they actually monitor it? Also once the placenta is ageing/aged, do you have time to do a 4 day induction or is it under 24 hrs then c section?

I rly want a home natural birth if I can but not sure what actual tests Ill need to ask for to check that it'll be the safest option. If I do have to be induced due to the placenta ageing Ill try and avoid any more than necessary so will have to do my research on what interventions I will and will not accept.

Meeting my Doula next week - well, hopefully she'll be my doula, so fingers crossed :)


----------



## expecting76

too bad you didn't get any replies bc i have the same question. i have GD (controlled by diet) and am determined to have drug-free birth. the doc for some reason keeps pushing me to induce, it seems like she has a different reason every time i see her. this past time she did an ultrasound and then told me the placenta was "mature" and started talking again about induction. i told another doctor about it (the "mature" placenta) and she said -- what does that mean?! anyway apparently they can see something on the us but i'm not sure what that is, exactly. in your case i think you should just try to relax and let it unfold. it's so early in your pregnancy, and really impossible to know at this point how things will be looking 20-25 weeks from now. it's good that you are on guard for the gd bc most people don't find out about it til much later in the pregnancy and diet makes a massive difference. if you're willing to go on an extreme diet (i did -- no carb) you can do a lot to control your sugar numbers. try not to worry.


----------



## Mervs Mum

They do a special sonography scan called a doppler scan. It checks the flow across the umbilical cord to babby/placenta. They can see if its flowing as it should be for that particular gestation within a certail range. :) HTH


----------



## Mum2b_Claire

I had also wondered about the placenta issue - if they find it to be working insufficiently, surely that would be an emergency C section not a long winded induction process that could well result in a CS anyway.


----------



## cranberry987

I havent asked the hospital about this yet, but I suppose they can measure the blood flow and if its below a certain level then its whip baby out right now. Depends how often they monitor you maybe too. I get the feeling that they wont let an induction go on and on in this situation, too early to tell tho rly.


----------



## indy and lara

I had doppler scans and cord scans 3 times a week from 30 weeks. If Emma had been found to have the same problems as her brother I would have been induced immediately. There were not plans for me to have a c-section unless things went completely wrong. Mine was not a planned homebirth but just to let you know what happened.


----------

