Low Lying Placenta - Placenta Previa

Hello everyone,

My partner is 32 weeks pregnant, at the 19 week ultrasound we were told she had a low lying placenta so we were booked in for a 32 week scan to see if it moved (which I'm told is often the case).

We had the 32 week scan the other day and the placenta hadn't moved much, if a t all. It is .5cm away from the cervix and she was diagnosed as having placenta previa. As such we assumed we'd have to have a c-section and the ob confirmed our assumption. We are having another u/s at 36 weeks on the off-chance it's moved, however we understand chances aren't good.

We asked the ob how far from the cervix it needs to be to have a normal delivery and we were told "oh, about 5cm I suppose". Our ob seemed very disinterested at the appointment and I don't have a huge amount of faith in what he was saying.

I've been trying to do my own research and I've seen some people saying you only need a c-section if your placenta is totally covering the cervix and that your placenta only needs to be 1.5 cm away to have a normal delivery.

Can anyone shed any light on this? We'd like to have a normal delivery if it's safe, we're just not sure about the information we've been given.

Thanks!

As a general rule they want to see it 2cm away for a vaginal birth.
1.5cm falls within that realm but 5cm is definitely overkill and if my OB told me that I would be asking him to back it up with some evidence. If he can't (which I can tell you he won't be able to) I'd be looking for another care provider.

I agree 2cm is usually considered safe. You OB is probably thinking of himself and the chance of being sued rather than the potental dangers of a C/S