Pregnant after placental abruption

[FrustratedMod]

As title really, I'm pregnant for the second time, first time ended in a 'silent' abruption and v poorly baby (now ok). Apparently they will look at blood flow in the placenta at my 20 weeks scan which will give an indication of whether this will recur, though it's my understanding that this isn't foolproof.

My question is, for anyone who's had a pregnancy after a previous placental abruption, how was your pregnancy managed? Were you delivered early and did you have extra monitoring towards the end of pregnancy?

Hello

Had 3rd pregnancy after partial abruption in 2nd pg. Was complex issue though as after 2nd pregnancy had blood tests which confirmed a suspected blood clotting disorder.

Was treated with aspirin daily and clexane injections daily. Had doppler scan at 20 weeks as you describe, and the same scan again at 24 weeks (I was told just doing it at 20 weeks can in effect have 'false positive' results - the blood flow may change between 20 and 24 weeks. If there is notching at 24 weeks there is likely to actually be a problem with the blood flow (though I understand women sometimes have this notching present and pregnancy has been fine).

Through my experiences I have spoken to several women with similar problems. One of them had an unexplained abruption in a previous pg and she was treated with aspirin in the next pregnancy just in case, even though no blood clotting disorder was identified.

The other thing we all had was extra growth scans, some at 28 and 32 weeks, some more often.

I would hope they will at least be giving you the extra scans as the head sparing growth pattern is a key indicator of placental problems as is general poor growth, low fluid levels etc.

When was your previous abruption and did they do any clotting tests?

Hiya combine, thanks for replying. That's interesting, no one mentioned anything to me about blood clotting, I will mention that at next appointment. The abruption I had was at 38 weeks ish - it had apparently been happening gradually for a while but they weren't sure whether that was hours, days, or weeks. Luckily I'm at a hospital that is a regional specialist centre for fetal medicine, so they do a scan at 32 weeks for all women, but I'll ask about additional scans as well.

I've read that abruptions that recur happen 1-3 weeks before the previous abruption, so I'm wondering if my baby would have to be delivered at 35 weeks if a problem is found. Did you have a normal birth?

Hi.
I had a concealed abruption at 35wks & sadly my daughter was stillborn. My husband and myself both had blood tests done but everything was fine.
They wanted to induce me at 38wks due to there being an increased risk of abruption the closer you get to your due date.
I had scans every 4 weeks from 20wks including the doppler scan to check the blood flow etc and all was ok.

I asked to be induced at 37+5 and they agreed. I was induced, got to around 5-6cm dilated when i started losing lots of blood & huge clots...... yep i had another abruption.
Thankfully as i was in hospital they managed to save my daughter and myself although i was very ill and needed 11 units of blood. I was told that had i been at home we both would probably have died as i lost so much blood so quickly.

With my next 3 pregnancies i had an elective c-section around 33+5 - 34wks. They said that around this time was the earliest and safest time they could deliver my babies.

I was prescribed folic acid 5mg to take during my last 3 pregnancies. My consultant said there was research to suggest it would help. I don't know if its just luck, being induced early or the folic acid but thankfully my last 3 pregnancies were ok.