thread: Anterior Placenta

  1. #1
    Registered User

    Jul 2009
    2,109

    Question Anterior Placenta

    Hi everyone. I am not quite into my second trimester yet but I have a question about my nuchal scan I am hoping I can get some feedback on. I was reading the report last night (because I have an Ob appt this morning) and it says my placenta is anterior. So me being me googled this and google reports that this means my placenta is on the front of my stomach and I won't feel movement for quite a while longer. I have had some bleeding along the way so I am wondering whether this could possibly be the reason, I'll ask my Ob about that. My questions for you ladies are:

    1 - Did anyone have this written on their nuchal scan report and if yes, when did you feel movement?
    2 - Does anyone know if the placenta position can change?

    Thanks so much. xx

  2. #2
    Registered User

    Jun 2007
    Somewhere between asleep and awake
    1,194

    Hi starangelk,
    I had an anterior placenta with dd1. I felt movements at about 16 weeks. With dd2 I had a posterior placenta and felt movements at 12 weeks but I knew what they felt like second time. I had bleeding in the first tri too but I had that with both pregnancies too. Your bleeding wouldn't be because your placenta is anterior. There are other things to do with the placenta that can cause bleeding but just being anterior does not mean you are more likely to have bleeding or complications. The only thing I was told is that babies are more likely to face their placenta when positioning themselves for birth so an anterior placenta may mean your baby decides she wants to be posterior (like my dd1!) but there are plenty of things you can do to encourage baby to position properly. Your placenta doesn't move once it begins to develop. It will stay anterior. But there's nothing wrong with that. I'm sure your ob will reassure you more today :-)

  3. #3
    Registered User

    Jul 2009
    2,109

    Thanks Nikw

  4. #4
    Registered User

    Dec 2006
    Out of my mind. Back in five minutes...
    3,304

    There is nothing to worry about with an anterior placenta. I had one for DS1. And as NikW said, it wont move. The "moving" placentas that you hear about are when someone has a low lying placenta (placenta previa) close to the cervix. And with them, as the uterus grows, they can move away from the cervix.

    As for movements, well it is most likely that you wont really feel too much till around 20-22 weeks, and when you do, they may be less that how people with a posterior placenta feel them. But you will feel them. And aftger having a posterior placenta this time round, when you get to the last few weeks, I must say I miss my anterior placenta. hehe

    Good luck with the next phase of your pregnancy.

  5. #5
    Registered User

    Jul 2009
    2,109

    Thanks Rufalina

  6. #6
    Registered User

    Sep 2008
    South West Sydney, NSW
    2,454

    I had an anterior placenta with DD - I felt movements from within at about 20 weeks (I think) but DP didn't feel anything until we were 25 weeks and he felt the movement up high (sort of where the placenta ended IYKWIM) and felt movement where the placenta was about 30 weeks.

    As the other posters have said it won't move and Rufalina explains placenta previa well.

  7. #7
    Registered User

    Aug 2009
    Melbourne, Victoria
    298

    I have an anterior placenta at the moment, and I had first trimester bleeding too, I felt movements at 17 weeks.

  8. #8
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber

    Feb 2006
    melbourne
    11,462

    i had an anterior placenta with DD2 and felt movements as i did with DD1 around the 17 week mark, as did DH i found i felt the same amount of movement as i did with DD1 throughout the pregnancy, everyone is different, hopefully you'll feel movement soon!

  9. #9
    murraysmum Guest

    apprently mines in the same spot as last time low and anterior which the ultrsound tech said was weird as i had placenta previa with my first and the placenta only moved enough for a vaginal birth at 30 odd weeks

    im 20 weeks and only feel nudges not proper movments but it was the same with ds i felt nudges up untill he was big enough to start proding stuff and moving around

  10. #10
    BellyBelly Member

    Sep 2007
    799

    I had an anterior placenta with DD, and felt movements from around 19w onwards, DH didn't feel them to much later. I also worried a couple of times in the 3rd trimester, because hadn't felt DD for a few hours, but each time, when the hooked me up to check at hosp, she was fine and kicking - the monitor picked it up, but I couln't feel it, so the mw reckons she was probably kicking into my placenta.

    This time around my placenta is posterior and I felt movements much ealier, DH also felt wiggle at around 19wks which shocked us both!

    DD was also posterior, and I'd heard the same as NikW, in that some think because they prefer to face the placenta, it might cause them to be posterior, but there are also other things that cause OP's so its nothnig to worry about

  11. #11
    Registered User

    Oct 2008
    SA
    1,078

    I had an anterior placenta with DS and I felt movements from around 18 weeks.

  12. #12
    Registered User

    Aug 2009
    301

    I had an anterior placenta at 12 weeks, felt movement about 18 weeks. When I went for 19 week scan my placenta has moved to posterior. I asked Ob and they said that it can move around in early pregnancy and they are not too bothered about positioning until later on, unless it is very low and likely to cause probs. I didn't think that it could move and that once it implanted it was stuck there but obviously not, unless bub has been swinging from it!