Can anyone tell me about having a low placenta?

[RoxieHart]

So I've just had my 20 week scan, everything seems okay with baby (confirmed) boy the only issue was that at the end of the scan when she handed me my results sheet she mentioned that my placenta was low and I've been booked in for another scan at 31 weeks. Then she said if i have any issues or bleeding obviously come straight to hospital ...

Freaked me out a bit. My first pregnancy was very straight forward, no issues whatsoever so I'm a bit upset and confused about how she kinda left it? I also don't see my midwife till next Friday so can't really discuss it with her yet.

Will my baby boy be okay? Does anyone know how this will affect me or how it could possibly affect me or the pregnancy? Any experience with it?

I know about placenta previa, are they checking again to see if this happens?

Can anyone lay out facts for me?

Thanks ladies

 

[RoxieHart]

Bump

 

[Kezzybear]

Hi love, I'm a sonographer and I have a low lying placenta! I wouldn't worry at this stage, I would say 80% of them move away by 32 weeks. For the small percentage that don't move, it means a Caesarian.
Patients with Low lying placenta can be prone to some bleeding. That being said lots of people have none! I haven't had any!

Your bub will be fine

Good luck, it will be fine xx

 

[RoxieHart]

Hi love, I'm a sonographer and I have a low lying placenta! I wouldn't worry at this stage, I would say 80% of them move away by 32 weeks. For the small percentage that don't move, it means a Caesarian.
Patients with Low lying placenta can be prone to some bleeding. That being said lots of people have none! I haven't had any!

Your bub will be fine

Good luck, it will be fine xx

Ah thank you!!! If she said low lying placenta, could this possibly mean placenta previa, or would she have said that if it was? And if it was previa, can that still move?

Thanks for your advice xx

 

[Kezzybear]

Hi love, I'm a sonographer and I have a low lying placenta! I wouldn't worry at this stage, I would say 80% of them move away by 32 weeks. For the small percentage that don't move, it means a Caesarian.
Patients with Low lying placenta can be prone to some bleeding. That being said lots of people have none! I haven't had any!

Your bub will be fine

Good luck, it will be fine xx

Ah thank you!!! If she said low lying placenta, could this possibly mean placenta previa, or would she have said that if it was? And if it was previa, can that still move?

Thanks for your advice xx

Low lying placenta is anything from touching the internal os (inside of the cervix) to 3cm away from internal os. Placenta previa is completely covering the opening to the cervix. It's important to distinguish between the two so I'm guessing yours is low otherwise they would have called it previa I would hope.

 

[RoxieHart]

Hi love, I'm a sonographer and I have a low lying placenta! I wouldn't worry at this stage, I would say 80% of them move away by 32 weeks. For the small percentage that don't move, it means a Caesarian.
Patients with Low lying placenta can be prone to some bleeding. That being said lots of people have none! I haven't had any!

Your bub will be fine

Good luck, it will be fine xx

Ah thank you!!! If she said low lying placenta, could this possibly mean placenta previa, or would she have said that if it was? And if it was previa, can that still move?

Thanks for your advice xx

Low lying placenta is anything from touching the internal os (inside of the cervix) to 3cm away from internal os. Placenta previa is completely covering the opening to the cervix. It's important to distinguish between the two so I'm guessing yours is low otherwise they would have called it previa I would hope.

Ah I've just had a look at the paper again and it says 'the placenta is posterior low reaching up to the internal os' ?? xx

 

[ajlj1126]

I have the same thing this time too, after a completely normal pregnancy last time. It freaked me out a little too but my OB said most of the time they will move up on their own, and if they don't it's not threatening at all to the baby. In a way I feel lucky because it means I get another scan

 

[pLadyBug]

There term low lying and placenta previa is commonly used as the same term. However, the position of which the placenta lies differs in everyone's case. You'll hear anterior, posterior, partial, complete.. etc. All are used to describe the location of your placenta and how close or far it is from your cervix. The diagnosis is common before 21 weeks of pregnancy. When present a patient is always booked to be rescanned later to see if the placenta has moved up. In MOST cases the placenta will have moved up by the next scan. This happens because as your uterus gets bigger it automatically pushes up your placenta with it.

What happens if there is no change? This depends again on the location and how close to the cervix your baby's placenta is. The danger in low lying placentas or placenta previa is hemorrhaging and puts the baby's life at risk. A placenta cannot be delivered before a baby, as its the baby's life support so to speak. If its determined that you have complete previa you will automatically be given a scheduled c-sect; a vaginal birth is not an option. For partial previas there is still options and that depends on your OB. Some will allow you to continue as normal if they believe your placenta is enough away from the opening of your cervix. (this varies by physicians).

IN YOUR CASE: (I am not an OB) Your baby's placenta is low and not covering any portion of the cervix. They just noted that it is close. It's routine to make a note of and take precautions to keep an eye on it. If not it would be negligence on their behalf. That being said it is very rare for a low lying placenta to move lower and cover a cervix. As stated above your body doesn't work that way. The uterus will only push it up and not down. They told you to go to the hospital with any bleeding because its a risk that comes with having a low placenta. You will be fine. (speaking from personal experience as well) Sorry so long you asked for facts.

 

[Feronia]

I posted this study in another thread, but try not to worry. 98% of low-lying placentas diagnosed in the second trimester resolve before delivery: https://www.jultrasoundmed.org/content/33/4/691.short

 

[RoxieHart]

There term low lying and placenta previa is commonly used as the same term. However, the position of which the placenta lies differs in everyone's case. You'll hear anterior, posterior, partial, complete.. etc. All are used to describe the location of your placenta and how close or far it is from your cervix. The diagnosis is common before 21 weeks of pregnancy. When present a patient is always booked to be rescanned later to see if the placenta has moved up. In MOST cases the placenta will have moved up by the next scan. This happens because as your uterus gets bigger it automatically pushes up your placenta with it.

What happens if there is no change? This depends again on the location and how close to the cervix your baby's placenta is. The danger in low lying placentas or placenta previa is hemorrhaging and puts the baby's life at risk. A placenta cannot be delivered before a baby, as its the baby's life support so to speak. If its determined that you have complete previa you will automatically be given a scheduled c-sect; a vaginal birth is not an option. For partial previas there is still options and that depends on your OB. Some will allow you to continue as normal if they believe your placenta is enough away from the opening of your cervix. (this varies by physicians).

IN YOUR CASE: (I am not an OB) Your baby's placenta is low and not covering any portion of the cervix. They just noted that it is close. It's routine to make a note of and take precautions to keep an eye on it. If not it would be negligence on their behalf. That being said it is very rare for a low lying placenta to move lower and cover a cervix. As stated above your body doesn't work that way. The uterus will only push it up and not down. They told you to go to the hospital with any bleeding because its a risk that comes with having a low placenta. You will be fine. (speaking from personal experience as well) Sorry so long you asked for facts.

Thank you so much! This was so informative!

 

[RoxieHart]

I posted this study in another thread, but try not to worry. 98% of low-lying placentas diagnosed in the second trimester resolve before delivery: https://www.jultrasoundmed.org/content/33/4/691.short

Thank you! Informative article, gives me some reassurance!

 

[Kezzybear]

Hi love, I'm a sonographer and I have a low lying placenta! I wouldn't worry at this stage, I would say 80% of them move away by 32 weeks. For the small percentage that don't move, it means a Caesarian.
Patients with Low lying placenta can be prone to some bleeding. That being said lots of people have none! I haven't had any!

Your bub will be fine

Good luck, it will be fine xx

Ah thank you!!! If she said low lying placenta, could this possibly mean placenta previa, or would she have said that if it was? And if it was previa, can that still move?

Thanks for your advice xx

Low lying placenta is anything from touching the internal os (inside of the cervix) to 3cm away from internal os. Placenta previa is completely covering the opening to the cervix. It's important to distinguish between the two so I'm guessing yours is low otherwise they would have called it previa I would hope.

Ah I've just had a look at the paper again and it says 'the placenta is posterior low reaching up to the internal os' ?? xx

Yep so yours is the same as mine. It only has to move three mc and has a lot of uterus stretching time to do this so I'm sure it will be fine xx

 

[nickyb]

I've got this too covering the os I just phoned midwife and she advised no sex is everyone not having sex?

 

[Feronia]

I've got this too covering the os I just phoned midwife and she advised no sex is everyone not having sex?

If it's covering the os, then you have placenta previa, so it would really be a good idea to avoid sex. You don't want to trigger any bleeding!

There is still a high chance of it moving. Do you know how much of it is covering the OS? I also heard that acupuncture and certain yoga stretches can help, but I need to confirm.

 

[nickyb]

I've got this too covering the os I just phoned midwife and she advised no sex is everyone not having sex?

If it's covering the os, then you have placenta previa, so it would really be a good idea to avoid sex. You don't want to trigger any bleeding!

There is still a high chance of it moving. Do you know how much of it is covering the OS? I also heard that acupuncture and certain yoga stretches can help, but I need to confirm.

Apparently it's completely covering the os, I'm upset no one even told me I should avoid sex I had to phone my midwife to check if it was ok then came the bombshell no sex ! Me not a happy bunny lol

 

[RoxieHart]

I've got this too covering the os I just phoned midwife and she advised no sex is everyone not having sex?

If it's covering the os, then you have placenta previa, so it would really be a good idea to avoid sex. You don't want to trigger any bleeding!

There is still a high chance of it moving. Do you know how much of it is covering the OS? I also heard that acupuncture and certain yoga stretches can help, but I need to confirm.

Apparently it's completely covering the os, I'm upset no one even told me I should avoid sex I had to phone my midwife to check if it was ok then came the bombshell no sex ! Me not a happy bunny lol

I know how you feel. I wish things had been explained better, even if it was just a quick brief explanation. I just freaked out instead! You ladies have eased my worries though, so thank you! I'm looking forward to seeing my midwife next Friday to talk to her about it too

 

[pinkribbon]

I had this twice with previous two pregnancies. First time it moved and second time it was a previa and didn't move so I had a csection delivery. 9 times out of 10 it will move upwards and out of the way for delivery.

I was advised no sex the second time but not the first.

 

[RoxieHart]

I had this twice with previous two pregnancies. First time it moved and second time it was a previa and didn't move so I had a csection delivery. 9 times out of 10 it will move upwards and out of the way for delivery.

I was advised no sex the second time but not the first.

Thanks for your reply!

The first time did they tell you it was covering your cervix or just low? Also how was your c section?

 

[pinkribbon]

I had this twice with previous two pregnancies. First time it moved and second time it was a previa and didn't move so I had a csection delivery. 9 times out of 10 it will move upwards and out of the way for delivery.

I was advised no sex the second time but not the first.

Thanks for your reply!

The first time did they tell you it was covering your cervix or just low? Also how was your c section?

My notes said 'low lying placenta' the first time but they also said the same the second time until I had a bleed at 26 and a transvaginal scan which showed it was actually a previa. Scanned every 2 weeks after that right up until the day before my section date and it didn't move everything went smoothly with both births though. No complications, babies were healthy and a good weight both times etc

Edited to add I was admitted to hospital at 36 weeks to wait for a scheduled section date at 38+1 which sucked as I had a child at home.

 

[Reyrey7]

I have just come back from my 20 week scan. I know I should be happy as they said everything looked ok with bub but they said my placenta is anterior and low lying, so this has freaked me out abit and I feel really deflated. They have also written on my notes, the parents are aware that not all abnormalities can be diagnosed with the ultrasound scan... Do they put this on all lady's ultrasound notes ?? Or is this just to cover their back if they have seen something but they haven't said. My midwife appointment isn't for another 5 weeks. So many questions....