Risk of C-section in placenta previa?

[RnB]

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Hi. I had a c-section for placenta previa with dd1. (I bled on and off from 27 weeks, was in hospital for 10 weeks, and had my op at 36 weeks!!!!)

There is a higher risk of bleeding with placenta previa, which is why they will take blood to cross-match and save. This is purely a precaution, and I don't think your sister should be too freaked about it. (For example, they also wanted to do it for me when I had my VBAC, although dd2 was in too much of a hurry to arrive, and they never got round to it). They will know where your sister's placenta is, though, from scans, and will do their level best to avoid it. I'm guessing it's anterior as well as previa, if they are worried about cutting into it and are going to cut higher than normal. Mine was (so they said) sunk in my cervix 'like a plug in a sink', so this wasn't a problem. Also, at 38 weeks your sister's baby will be very well-developed (38 weeks counts as 'full-term') so there are unlikely to be any problems with him/her being small, etc. Has she been bleeding up till now? My dd was smaller than expected for 36 weeks, but I think that's because I had lost a piece of placenta somewhere along the way (sorry if TMI...hope you're not eating your dinner). Is your sister in hospital now? If not, just tell her to stay near-ish to the hospital, just in case, and to gotraight in (as in 'do not pass go, do not stop to pack'!) if she either suspects she might be in labour or starts to bleed.

Placenta previa can be serious, there's no doubt about it. In this case, however, the c-section is a life-saver. I found mine to be an incredibly positive experience - very relaxed (after a very stressful pregnancy) and very happy. And I felt very 'safe' throughout... after feeling like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off for the previous 9 weeks!

Good luck to your sister. If you want to know anything else just ask. (Oh, and invest in some big pants for her for after the op. They are a life-saver. The bigger the better, especially if they are going to cut her a bit higher than normal.)

Ellbell's experience should reassure you both RnB It is scary (best friend had this and her c-section was fine, although she did not enjoy the enforced bed rest for weeks beforehand) but it has been identified.
Ds was frank transverse lie and for some reasons scans did not pick up that some of the placenta was under and in front of him - right where the surgeon made his incision . He didn't nick the placenta but the arrogant sod made a point of telling me off about it afterwards like I did it on purpose. I think he was a bit taken aback to find placenta where he didn't expect any and it was the fright talking.
Best of luck to your sister. They will be taking super extra care of her and I am sure she will be fine [smil]

I had placenta previa too. The placenta was right at the front and they cut through it to get to ds. While they were stitching me up I asked what the doctors at the side of the room were doing, and was told they were piecing the placenta back together to make sure they'd got all of it!

Ds and I were both fine. I lost quite a lot of blood but most of that was before the cs not during. (I started bleeding at 34 weeks). Its fantastic that your sister has got to 36 weeks.

Tell her to get swallowing the Spatone. If she does bleed a lot, she'll recover faster if her iron levels are high.

Lets hope the next two weeks are nice and calm then!

I had placenta previa too. In my case things did go wrong. I had a massive bleed, ds was in distress and I had a crash-section and lost 3 pints of blood. But I came through it fine and have a perfectly healthy wonderful ds. Why? Because the hospital were excellently prepared and efficient when things went wrong. They were preparing blood for me constantly in case it was needed urgently. In these sorts of situations it is prepared routinely as a precaution, not because it will definately be needed. In my case I managed to avoid a transfusion but it was offered and the blood was already there.

I don't want to scare you, (chances are your sisters c-s will be as straighforward as it can be), i just want to emphasise how that if problems happen, then the hospital will be all ready and prepared to deal with it.

Not the same thing - I had a fibroid over the incision from my previous c-section - but I went through something similar two weeks ago, when DS was born. The doctors I spoke to beforehand all stressed that there would be a risk of severe blood loss during the section and they went through the same procedure of checking and saving my blood type in anticipation of needing to give me a transfusion. I was, frankly, scared. In the event, the c-section was absolutely fine and my blood loss was less than average. The whole experience was calm and positive and I have already recovered almost completely.

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Good luck to your sister, RnB.

Don't forget the pants... the sort that come right up to your neck are ideal .

Had the same experience as fruitful with the 'placenta jigsaw'... they were trying to locate the missing piece!

The operation is very very quick. Baby is out in 10 minutes or so (and could be quicker in an emergency, so I was told). I was able to hold my baby while I was stitched. Have a fab photo of me holding her and grinning from ear to ear. (Only thing is, the anaesthetist took it, and forgot to avoid the gruesome end on the other side of the screen, so you can clearly see the surgeon's hands in my insides in a corner of the picture. Love the photo, but it didn't make it to the album!!)

Let us know how she gets on.

Ellbell that sounds like a fantastic photo! I bet your dd loves it when she is about 7...

Doubt it, fruitful. She's a mega-drama queen. When dd2 fell and cut her lip open last year, dd1 made more fuss than poor dd2 (who needed 6 stitched in it) did ('Ugh, ugh, ugh... I can see the blood, don't look at me... aaah aaah!' ).