Anterior Placenta

[LockandKey]

Just had my NT 12 week scan, and the results came back showing that I have an anterior placenta. Had a posterior placenta with DD so this is all new for me. I am really wanting an unmedicated birth this time, so what does an anterior placenta mean for me? Could it potentially cause problems during the birth or labor? I read somewhere that an anterior placenta could mean a posterior position for the baby, would that result in back to back labor for me? Sorry for all the questions, I'm a bit worried, so any advice would be great

 

[Reidfidleir]

I had one. No problems at all. even felt the baby at 10.5 weeks! It did take a little longer coming out after the birth but not sure tha had anything to do with where it was attached. Baby was in perfect position from 32 weeks. Stayed the way all through labor.
I had a pretty enjoyable 17 hour labor and birth. Placenta came out an hour after the birth.

 

[LockandKey]

thank you for the response, it helps put my mind a bit more at ease

 

[Feronia]

I had an anterior placenta. DD was occiput posterior brow presentation at the onset of labour, but with acupuncture and a little time she flipped to the perfect position. No back labour at all!

 

[Medzi]

I am happy to hear that it didn't mean back labour. I also have an anterior placenta and am a FTM so was worried about that as well!

 

[Irish Eyes]

I had an anterior placenta as well. Didn't affect my booking a homebirth at all, I had to be induced after going past 42 weeks. Didn't cause a b2b Labour either

 

[amjon]

Anterior placenta should cause no issues. I had one with my daughter and one of the twins has one now. It may mean you feel a bit less movement (though it doesn't mean you CAN'T feel early movement as I was 10 and 9 weeks with mine). For delivery there should be no issue unless it is also previa or partial previa.

 

[LockandKey]

my cousin had mentioned the same thing about previa, she had it twice, I am pretty sure they will check for that during the 20 week anatomy scan. Hopefully everything is where it should be

 

[BunnyN]

I have an anterior placenta too, doctors said it's no problem, it's also a bit low which they were more concerned about, but that seems to be correcting itself. I do think I felt movement a bit later because of it. I also worked out that it is toward the right side because that's where I feel the least movement, I asked at my last scan and he confirmed that I was right.

 

[MindUtopia]

Like others have said, I don't think it should necessarily make much difference. I had an anterior placenta and my LO was supposedly back to back as of a week before I went into labour. I'm not sure if she still was at birth, but my 2nd stage lasted quite a long time and I assume this had something to do with the fact she was probably turning during this time. But I never had anything I'd call back labour and it was totally manageable. I had her at home just using TENS during early labour. I think you can have back labour without an anterior placenta and you can obviously have an anterior placenta without any back labour, so I wouldn't let it worry you too much. I'd just plan to have as many tools for naturally managing pain available to you as possible, just in case, so you'll be prepared if it is more challenging than you'd hoped. TENS and hypnotherapy techniques were what helped the most for me.

 

[MandaAnda]

Your midwife should be able to feel if baby is posterior, and you can encourage baby to move into a better position (even from now). Look up "optimal fetal positioning" and sites like Spinning Babies. x

 

[LockandKey]

Your midwife should be able to feel if baby is posterior, and you can encourage baby to move into a better position (even from now). Look up "optimal fetal positioning" and sites like Spinning Babies. x

thank you, and now that you mention it, my midwife told me that a lot of the troubles I had during my labor and birth with DD was because she was in a bad position (labor plateaued and she had severe shoulder dystocia) I will definitely look into it and try to encourage a much better position for a hopefully smoother birth and labor this time