My best friend is 34 weeks pregnant and her OB told her at her app yesterday that her placenta appeared to be aging and that she probably wouldn't go to full term. Now she is FREAKING out and wants to know what it all means. She tried calling him this morning but he's in surgery until this afternoon.
As the placenta starts to reach the end of it's 'use by' date it will start to deteriorate, meaning that the baby doesn't always get as much nutrients as it should be getting. Sometimes it can go a bit gritty (which is also the case with some smokers too) or it can start to calcify, and this can be seen on the u/s. He really shouldn't have left her hanging like that and should have taken the time to explain it properly to her to save her all this worry. I don't know what it would mean for her or her baby though sorry.
Hmmm. This is a complication that normally occurs at 41+ weeks. Having it occur at 34 weeks would be exceedingly rare. And it would need to be diagnosed by ultrasound.
I would be taking this news with a large grain of salt, if it were me, and having regular ultrasounds to confirm the diagnosis. The cynic in me sees a recommendation for a (possibly unnecessary) inductuion or a caesar in your friends future.
One of my twins placentas aged prematurely. The other twins placenta was fine. This was detected at 30 weeks and they had to be born as it had also caused the cord to only have 10% flow. The difference between the two placentas at birth was amazing. The placenta that was fine was red and spongy. The one that was aged was grey and like a blob of jelly. The hospital then took them to do research on them and are now doing a ongoing study on twin placentas to find out why this happens as they have no idea.
If its not bad, her doc will keep a good eye on it, esp the cord flow. It might have deterioated a little and that it, or it might keep in breaking down.
Tell your friend to hang in there and that naugtie doc for stressing out a pg woman!!!! If he was worried, he would have done something- so no news is good news.
The part that's worrying her is that the OB didn't seemed worried at all by it. He said it and then said he would see her in two weeks. If he wasn't worried, should she be?
I agree he really shouldn't have said it if it wasn't a big deal because now she is so worried.
She just rang and managed to speak to the nurse and she said her scan showed "calcification spots" on her placenta which were normal and were not affecting the nutrients getting to the baby. She said the doctor had noted that she would likely give birth pre term due to this but the nurse reassured her that it was perfectly normal. The doctor is calling her back after lunch for further clarification.
If she is still worried, what about if she gets weekly u/s to ensure that it doesnt get any worse. That way they can keep an close eye on it.
Mine deteriored from working properly to grey mush in 2 weeks.
HTH and something that needs to be monitored a bit more closely
I had an U/S at 34w6d and it showed some calcification spots on the placenta. I was told this was totally normal and I didn't think any more about it. All blood flow in the placenta and cord was normal.
I went into spontaneous labour at 35w1d and DS was born. There was no known reason for the labour and it was not attributed to the placenta.
Does she have a gp she trusts?
When my ob booked me in for an induction for no apparent reason 2 days before I was due I rang my gp.
He kinda gave me reassurance that I didn't have to do it & he also rang my ob to make sure there were no medical reasons for it.
Baisically I knew I could trust him to be straight with me.
I knew he would be the best choice for a second oppinion.
Maybe if she has someone like that they might be able to reassure more.
Aging Placenta?
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