low placenta and breach at 20 weeks - reason to have concerns?

[slimyak]

Had a 20 week scan last week and was told the placenta was very low and baby in breach position. I had a lovely sonographer who talked us through the scan very well and explained that I would need a scan at 34 weeks to check that the placenta has moved, which is likely and worse case senario is the C section, but we don't need to worry about that yet. Plenty of time for things to right themselves.

I didn't worry but now it's niggling me. I can't do anything about it, it's a wait and see. But, is the breach position relevant at this stage? I thought they were still summersaulting for a while yet.

Any thoughts?

It's no problem what position they are in at 20 weeks. They will move alot at your stage. DD was transverse at my 22 week scan. I'm now 33 weeks and she has moved and is now head down. MW even said at my last appointment she wasn't worried about babys position. Don't think they worry about it til about 36 weeks possibly. I've no experience of a low placenta but from what I've read, it's as you say, they check again later as the majority move higher as your uterus grows. Hope that's the case for you.

Hello
I had the same at my 20 week scan. I rang the midwife in a panic, but she said not to worry as 99% of low lying placentas move up as your uterus grows. At that time my baby was also breech, but it turned at 28 weeks (felt it) and has been head down ever since. And at 20 weeks they are still summersaulting, that's just the position it happened to be in when you had the scan. If it had been a different day, it may have been a different position.

(oh, and had my 32 week scan and placenta moved! I think you are generally supposed to carry on as normal and assume it will move, but prepare a tiny bit of your head for the fact that you might have to have a C-section).

Thanks all, I was milling along with the kind of things you've said and then someone asked me about likelyhood of c-section and things started to niggle.

I shall resume 'ack, it'll be fine' mode. And, look forward to the potentially liver flipping move at 30 something weeks.

Babies move around loads in the early stages. It is as they get bigger that they begin to settle into position a bit more. So breech at 20 weeks doesn't mean at all that your baby will be breech later on. For the low lying placenta, for both my pregnancies my placenta was low lying at 20 weeks, and had moved by 32 (when they scan here). So no need to worry about it.

But if you do eventually end up needing a c-section, don't worry at all either, a friend of mine had one and her recovery was really straight forward and didn't get in the way of looking after her newborn.

So try to enjoy tings :) x

My doctor told me they like to see the baby settled head down by 34 weeks. Am 29+4 and mine has definitely not settled yet. Was also breech at 20 week scan. So don't worry. And the placenta usually moves higher as you get further along too.