@ridley12 I understand the fear and panic. I had a very traumatic association with the notion of placenta previa and I was terrified when mine was diagnosed. But all went well!
It’s great that it’s caught early because it means you can engage in all the risk reduction strategies, that it will be monitored, and that if it doesn’t resolve, your surgical team will be prepared to give you the absolute best care. Mine never resolved and I had a scheduled c section at 38+3. Because I had an anterior placenta previa, they sectionned through the placenta, and they were ready for that. They had a foley balloon, all sorts of hemorrhage management tools as well as blood for transfusion at the ready in the OR, and didn’t need them all.
My baby was perfect, in perfect health, and is now the fittest 6 year old. I recovered well and went on to have another healthy pregnancy. All good!
@ridley12 I had a C at 37 weeks for previa, I was on total pelvic rest my entire pregnancy (had an SCH early). But! But! You get to see your baby SO much more often. And that’s the best part.
@ridley12 It's way over the top that she told you that it's "most likely" that you'll have to schedule a C-section at 36-37 weeks, after detecting a full placenta previa at only 20 weeks. The vast majority of previa cases at 20 weeks resolve on their own.
I had a full placenta previa when I was pregnant with my first. The MFM who gave me the scan explained to me that if I still had a previa or low-lying placenta by 35 weeks, they'd schedule a C-section, but that it would probably go away on its own. Guess what? It did.
@prezil Thank you for sharing. That gives me hope.
She said the way the placenta was snuggling the cervix, it is unlikely it will move. I hope she was just being overly cautious
@ridley12 According to Yale Medicine: "It’s estimated that as many as 1 in 200 pregnant individuals have a diagnosis of placenta previa at some point during pregnancy. However, in 90% of cases, during the course of the pregnancy, placenta previa resolves on its own—the placenta stops covering the cervix as the uterus grows. As a result, it’s estimated that only 1 in 800 pregnant individuals continue to have the diagnosis of placenta previa at delivery."
I don't know how she could tell from an ultrasound that it was "snuggling the cervix". That strikes me as a very odd thing for her to say at only 20 weeks. The better thing for her to tell you would be "Most of these resolve, yours might, it might not, if it doesn't, we'll schedule a c-section around 37 weeks. So we'll keep an eye on it." Like there was no reason for her to scare you like that. IDK, I'm not a doctor (clearly), but that just seems like bad bedside manner.
@prezil That 1 in 200 includes marginal, partial, and complete previa. If you look at previa cases broken down by type, you will see that complete is actually quite uncommon to resolve as it has established blood flow on both sides of the cervical os. You can absolutely tell by ultrasound how close the placenta is to the cervix, including the amount of overhang on the distal edge of the placenta past the cervical os.
I can agree on poor bedside manner though. Finding out you have a complete previa sucks so much.
@prezil You are so right cause it did scare me to the core. I am gonna take it easy. I have an appointment with my provider on the 24th hopefully I’ll be able to see her before then.
I was so scared that I thought about canceling plan, baby shower in my home state at 29 weeks etc..
@prezil Not all placenta previas are the same. In some, only the edge of the placenta covers the cervix while others the middle of the placenta covers it. The odds of it moving a way will depend on this so it is impossible to say if she was over the top of not
@ridley12 Hi! I had placenta previa with my first baby who was born Nov 2023. Obviously I’m no doctor and don’t know your specific circumstance but upon research, majority of cases do resolve themselves. It is super frustrating because there is nothing you can do to make it move but there is stuff you can do that would result bleeding (exercises, sex, etc).
I was also put on modified bed rest. I couldn’t have sex or do any cardio other than leisurely walking or lift more than 20 lbs.
I remember freaking out and being so nervous I’d have to have a c section. What my doctors didn’t tell me was as that in majority of cases, the placenta moves in the third trimester when baby starts growing a lot and forces it to move. Mine started moving, slowly, right at 30 weeks. By 36 weeks it had moved all the way to the proper position and I was able to deliver vaginally.
Hopefully yours will move too and if not then that’s okay too. I spent additional time researching c sections and prepping myself because of this.
@ronyrana Thanks for your feedback! Did you bleed at all after 30weeks when it moved away? How far over the internal os was your placenta at 20 week scan?
@meganrijkers The placenta was basically “just touching”/at the edge of my cervix so not completely covering. It was partially low lying. I never had any bleeding during my pregnancy.
@ridley12 My c section got placenta previa is next week. Mine didn’t move. The no sex and exercise really put a damper on my pregnancy but baby is healthy and so am I and at the end of the day that’s all that matters. Take it easy and go with the flow.
@ridley12 My wife (FTM) was just diagnosed with the same thing at our anatomy scan on Tuesday. Wishing you the best either way!
My wife is very sad and scared too. Make sure to take some extra time on your next day off for self care.
Just some encouragement:
80-90% of the time it corrects itself, so there is still a chance it might! As the uterus grows, it may move upward!
Even if it doesn’t correct itself, being discovered this early drastically decreases the chances of long lasting complications related to placenta previa, and a game plan can be made to ensure the safety of both you and your baby!
(Good or bad) you might get to see your little one earlier than you thought! Which for my impatient mind is a positive!
