Low Papp a and abnormal blood flow to placenta

[Pagetta]

So my bloods came back with low Papp A - mine is .35 should be .41.
DS risk low and no other issues.
Had first extra scan today at 23 wks and they said the blood flow to placenta isn't as good as it should be.
That said, baby is growing fine and is all good so far, all the measurements on track etc.
They explained if problem with growth will be early delivery.
I've been put on aspirin to try to boost placenta flow.
I guess just wondered what other people's experience is and what potential outcomes are?
I know it may sound silly but I just feel like my body is letting this baby down. I wish there was something I could do or a way I could improve placenta performance - is that nuts?!
Is it something ive done that's caused the issue?
My pregnancy with DS1 was a breeze this one is just one stress after another :-/

I had issues with very low papp a in my last pregnancy. As it turns out it was indicative of a trisomy which was picked up at my 20 week scan.

However, before that I had a plan for inter uterine growth restriction which involved very regular growth scans, baby aspirin and possible delivery as early as 28 weeks with steroid injections before delivery.

I was told that there is nothing you can do to improve placental function but lots of googling suggested clean eating and certain foods might help (can't remember exactly what). Before dd2s trisomy diagnosis I was putting together a clean eating plan, it was the last thing I fancied but I figured it wouldn't do any harm and it would make me feel like I was doing something useful.

I understand what a huge stress it is but having had it picked up and being watched at least you know you are getting the best care possible for your baby (not that that helps with the guilty feelings)

💐 For you

Thank you for your reply - i'll look into that and the foods! There's been nothing else picked up (so far 4 scans and extra blood tests!) So hopefully them keeping an eye and aspirin is the main thing, but anything I can do will maybe at least help me feel like I'm doing something!

Woke up curled up asleep on my right last night and went into a panic so I just need to deal with my anxiety too :-/

Is there any sort of screening midwife you can talk to? Lots of them are trained in basic counselling and might be able to help with the anxiety. Sometimes just someone medical to chat to helps. I know our screening mws were great and I'm back with them now I'm pregnant again.

If you're having lots of scans then they'll be able to pick things up really quickly. That doesn't help with the anxiety though

I had low Papp-a and extra growth scans. My son was induced at 36 weeks due to abnormal blood flow and was 4lb 11oz. He was in SCBU for a week as his blood sugar kept dropping and he got jaundice so needed UV treatment.

It was stressful at the time but he's 4 1/2 now and absolutely you'd never know. As soon as he was well enough to come home he was fine and put weight on really quickly.

Trust in the clinicians who are looking after you and try not to worry. Easier said than don't I know! Good luck x

thanks both - i'll ask the midwife - i have a number for general 'wellbeing' counselling, but I'm not sure if that is suitable in this situation. I could do with just sounding off someone and perhaps getting a little help with it as poor DH doesn't really know what to say.

I also had low Papp-A which was due to the same underlying chromosomal disorder as Kitty's daughter had, also not detected until the 20 week scan and nearly missed then.

I started aspirin at 12 weeks, the evidence for aspirin is that it needs to be started pre 14 weeks gestation to be effective although there are anecdotal reports of later effects. I did a lot of research into low Papp-A before we got the diagnosis. The RCOG fetal growth guidelines are good, also good is the NHS England draft guidance for monitoring and the Perinatal institute. The really important thing is frequent scans and movement monitoring to avoid the higher rate of stillbirth.

RCOG
NHS England