Placenta Praevia

I am at 21 weeks with my first and my Ob told me yesterday I have Major Placenta Praevia. I had surgery last year on advanced endo in the ovaries and bowel, which I would say had a part in forming this condition. He has told me I will be having a C-section, under general and I need to be very careful, not doing anything strenuous and if there is any bleeding I must go immediately to hospital. I am pretty scared about getting to a point that the baby could be delivered safe. I have had a pretty good pregnancy thus far and I am not sure how careful I need to be. I have not had any bleeding yet. Has anyone been in this situation and could let me know what I can and can't do, and also does anyone know why I would have to have a general for my C-section? I was too upset to ask my ob yesterday these questions.

Hi Mkr
There is no research that I know of that stipulates how active you can be when you have placenta praevia. So therefore we need to rely on common sense. Demanding physical exercise such as jogging, gym work, power walking or anything else that may cause you to breath hard should be avoided. Sex is probably best avoided but if you can’t avoid DTD then it should be very gentle and try to find a position that limits the depth of penetration. Cleaning the house should be done slowly, in short bursts with long rests in between. Walking is OK but try to keep your walks short and walk slowly. If you have any unusual cramping then phone your OB, Midwife, Hospital. If you have any bleeding go to the hospital.
This is only a guide and your circumstances may dictate something different that what I have suggested you would be better to contact your OB for a full explanation on what he/she meant by ‘need to be very careful, not doing anything strenuous’.
I cannot think of any reason why your OB said that you would need a general. In most cases an epidural would be the usual way to go.

Hi MKR,

although i dont have any advice re the PP (i too was considerd at risk due to the endo...had a low lying for ages...i wonder...), i would suggest that you write down your concerns and questions and give your OB a call. if it is a serious as they are making out then you have all right to be a bit demanding and get some extra support from them.

Hope you are holding up okay. this must have come as a bit of a shock :hug:

My girlfriend had this and we were also told that she would have to have a c section. She had a bleed at 36 weeks and our baby amy was born by emergency c-section.

We were told that she would be awake during the c section because its the safest way. The docs said they would only give a general if there were complications.

She was told to rest as much as possible and just put her feet up.

Good luck with your pregnancy

Has you OB offered you further scans (after 30 weeks) just to be sure your placenta hasn't moved or is he 100% sure that it's praevia?

I have a low lying placenta (found out after my 20 week scan) and my OB has explained what could happen and said I may get some bleeding around 28 weeks or so. He told me to continue living as normal but to phone him immediately if I have any bleeding at all and I'm not allowed to travel any further than 2 hours from the metro area - that includes flying and driving.

I'm having another scan at 32 weeks to check if it's moved at all. My OB will continue to monitor it with more scans until 37ish weeks (unless they confirm earlier that it defintiely isn't moving). If it doesn't move enough, I will be having a c-section. My OB didn't say anything about having a general though so I'd definitely be questioning that. I can't understand why they would book you in for a general, I would have thought an epidural would be fine - just like any other elective caesar.

Good luck. I hope your OB gives you a little more info as it sounds like he was rather blas? to be honest.

I think you probably need to talk to your ob about your particular circumstances as I know of different people who have got different advice for different severities i.e. the placenta can be near the cervix, over it a bit, over it half way, over it over half way, completely covering it. On one hand I have heard of people being put on complete bed rest, on the other hand I know some one who didn't have it diagnosed and had a normal pregnancy and went into labour 'normally' (but had to have a c-section obviously).

Good luck.