neighbour's 20 week scan says baby is too low?

[oregonianabroad]

Has anyone ever had this problem and what did you do about it?

[juuule]

Baby or placenta? Never heard of a baby being too low.

[SlightlyMadSCAREYthing]

Ditto Juuule, I don't see how baby can be too low.

[lisad123]

how odd, i never heard of this either. Surely babies do lay low when they are 20 weeks, they still have loads of growing to do. Now if placenta is low thats a different story.
Lisa

[Snaf]

If you mean the placenta is too low, that's very common at 20 weeks and usually resolves itself by the 36-week scan your friend should have been offered. If it hasn't resolved by 36/40, a c-section may be in the offing, depending on where the placenta is exactly. However, there is nothing that can actually be done in the meantime - it's just one of those things, I'm afraid.

If you do mean the baby is 'too low' then I'm a little confused... Do you mean the sonographer couldn't get a good look at the baby because of its position? Sometimes this can happen if you don't have a full bladder at the time of the scan, or the baby isn't moving very much.

[oregonianabroad]

Thanks for your help! She said the sonographer couldn't see anything and she has to go back for another scan on Wed.

[Snaf]

Ah, right! Tell her to drink plenty of water before the scan - that may help

[scienceteacher]

Part of the info to collect on the 20 week scan is the location of the plancenta. Sometimes it appears low, and they have to say if this is the case. In the vast majority of cases it appears to move up as pregnancy progresses. Very rarely does it remain in the lower segment (and become either a full or partial placenta praevia).

My fourth baby was low at 20 weeks. I was expecting followup scans but everyone was very laid back about it. They said they would only do more if there were clinical signs of placenta praevia (ie bleeding).