Placenta accreta and further children

[Stangirl]

I've just survived an unexpected placenta accreta (placenta grown into uterine wall and unable to drop off at birth) - lost 2.2l of blood, nearly died but didn't have hysterectomy. Does anyone have experience of this and gone on to have further pregnancies? What is my risk of it happening again? Or miscarriage? Or death?

Thank you Raven. The doctors were brilliant - if a little surprised at first - am fine now. It was discovered during my c-section - I had had one previous section and both pregnancies had anterior placentas - the second one grew over the scar.

It's scary isn't it? How are you feeling now? Take it easy if you can - your body has a lot of internal mending to do.

I had accreta in my 3rd pg (after 2 csections). I had placenta previa too. The chance of accreta is higher with pp so they scanned for it and discovered it at 23 weeks.

I suspect you need to look at the risk of placenta previa too (placenta attaching too low and bleeding a lot before the end of pg). You should be able to get your gp to refer you to a consultant at the hosp to discuss it (pref the consultant who did your cs, since s/he has seen inside you).

They can scan you during pg to see if you have accreta (MRI scan in a tunnel) but they aren't that great at spotting it. Or at least they weren't in 2007, prob got better now.

With me they said "you've probably got accreta, we'll proceed as if you definitely do". Which meant a cs under general anaesthetic, a vertical incision, lots of blood on standby. I was under GA for 12 hours and woke up in Intensive care. I had a hysterectomy and a 16-pint transfusion. I did have accreta, but not where they thought it was.

Ds2 and I are completely fine now though!

Um, your questions.

Risk of miscarriage is much the same but risk of not conceiving is higher - lots of scar tissue so less space for egg to implant.

Risk of dying - they told me they "never lose anyone to accreta these days" but they didn't want me to leave the hospital (3 mths on the antenatal ward with 2 children at home and a self-employed dh, not pretty).

You didn't want to hear all that, did you? Sorry!

The 3 months in was because of the placenta previa - when you start bleeding with that it's fast and you don't always stop. It eventually kicked off late at night and I stupidly stood up. It was like a tap had turned on - the blood bounced off the floor and up the wall two feet away. They had me on the operating table in a couple of minutes.

The hysterectomy was because of the accreta - they couldn't detach the placenta.

It's rather nice not having to have periods or smear tests though.

puffin Thank you so much for all your advice/information. Both my DC were donor egg IVF as I had an early menopause and after the last round of IVF I ended up with 3 frozen embryos - so I feel like I should at least give it one more whirl but want to know what I may be letting myself in for. I also had placenta previa (partial) with my first pregnancy - so I don't have much luck with placentas.

My c-section was on the Monday - one day on high dependency unit, one on post-natal and discharged Wed afternoon. I don't think I could cope with 3 months!

Hi Stangirl....I survived a surprise accreta in December. I had previa aswell but placenta was totally posterior so it was nothing to do with my previous section. I lost 5l blood and had a hell of a lot of transfusions and in the end had to have a hysterectomy. During my debrief the consultant told me that they never allow you to loose too much blood as you could go into DIC where you stop clotting etc and go into major organ failure and as hard as it may be for the patient they will carry out hysterectomy before that happens.

In a non-scientific way, just my opinion. If I had not had the hysterectomy I would have a third without a doubt, I always wanted three and would be quite happy (well not happy, but you know what I mean!) to have a hysterectomy after my third. I think as long as you are prepared to end up having a hysterectomy then go for it. If you have a history of accreta then I would expect they will keep a keen eye out for it next time.

emma thank you for your advice too. I hadn't even thought about clotting issues - I'm thrombophilic (Leiden Factor V) and have to be on heparin throughout pregnancy until 24hrs before the ELCS - so I have another complication to bear in mind.

I would strongly suggest having an appointment with a consultant obstetrician pre conceptually. Some women do still die in childbirth these days and a placeta accreta is one of the culprits, it can lead to torrential bleeding in some cases even when they are prepared for it. I don't know what your chance of it recurring is which is why you need to speak to someone who knows. A third section is regarded as quite high risk even if there haven't been serious problems with the first two. I'm not saying don't go for it, just do lots of research first.

Congratulations on your new baby

Wish I had read this thread ! Currently got pp & p accreta & in hosp. Am 29 weeks they r delivering me @ 32 & doing hysterectomy. It's bad luck & once your in it u can't get away from it . There is no changing your mind now. I would say it was spotted approx 17 weeks .

Hi everyone
I am 21 week pregnant , have already 2 c.section and yesterday I had a scan and they said that I have placenta accreta. They explained the condition but they said we are not sure about risks .We will be able to tell you in 32 week scan. I am feeling very alone and scared because I have already 2 boys. I am worried about them . Can anyone explain the condition , chances of life and recovery after operation.
Thanks