Major previa - grade 4 and having a section. Advice please!

[Mummanomsi1]

Hiya,
I have grade 4 previa. It was initially only posterior but now has moved up to the anterior as well by 4cm. When I saw my consultant she was very helpful, she said they need to have units of blood because I'm more likely to bleed more. Has anyone has this degree previa and has a good section? Not sure yet if I'm going under or just local until I meet the consultant anaesthetist. I'm 37 weeks. I have lots of info but just wanted to know of people's experiences in the surgery. I have been luckily not to bleed yet but have been told to call an ambulance if I do xx

It should go well, you've made it to term and no bleeds which is great! I had DS at 36+1 by emcs, I did have to have blood transfusions but that was fine, you'll have catheters in your hands for a c section anyway so they just connect it up if you need blood. Hope it goes well

I have a posterior low lying placenta and find out in a few weeks if I will need a c-section, so don't have any advice/experience but I hope everything goes well for you.

I had this on my first pregnancy. I was in hospital from wk 30 due to bleeding and had section wk 38.

I was told after birth that I had lost 1.8 litres of blood and was just under transfusion limit. I had no idea of this during the surgery as it was all so calm and smooth.

I was weak for days afterwards and thought this was just due to having a section. But I've had 2 more sections since then and had much easier recoveries.

Probably a good idea to take iron tablets and vitamins to aid overall recovery.

Good luck!

I had Grade 4 PP with DS2 and a CS at 31 weeks. All was well

I'd bled repeatedly and spent 5 weeks before his delivery in hospital because of repeated big bleeds.
My blood count dropped to 8.6 postoperatively (normal is 11.5+). I did not required blood transfusions (was given 'triple iron' = oral iron tablets, folic acid and Vitamin C) which was a decision made in discussion between me and my consultant: I did not feel unwell, as soon as DS was delivered I had not further risk of bleeding and I was keen to avoid transfusion if at all possible (risk of blood-borne viruses and antibodies, wanted to be able to donate blood in the future) and I stayed in hospital for another 10 days after delivery.

The CS was a perfectly nice experience (well, apart from the worry about how DS would be) - technically an emergencyCS in that it was not scheduled and planned but dictated by another bleed that did not stop after several hours, but everything was calm and collected. I recovered well and have had 2x VBACs since.

Hope all goes well with you and your baby - at 37 weeks all should go smoothly for both of you

Thank you all for your reassuring messages. It has made me feel a lot more confident. Touch wood it will all go to plan! Not looking by to wait now! X

I had a complete previa with DD and it was fine tbh, I had no bleeds, although I was hospitalised at 36 weeks just in case, you have to be very careful about going into labour, so if you get any regular Braxton Hicks make sure you ring in to get checked out.

As for the section, I lost a lot of blood but it was relaxed enough from where I was at least, I was awake and fine apart from feeling periodically sick. I was anaemic as hell afterwards though and kept falling asleep in the hospital bed with my baby in my arms which wasn't ideal.

Try not to worry OP, you've made it to safety and while the surgery is a bit of a worry (my pre-op chat with the anaesthetist wasn't exactly reassuring) it'll be fine, you'll have the most qualified surgeon available to you and they know how to do this, it's not that rare. Good luck :)

Thank you RhiannonElward. I had the choice of going on or staying at home with someone with me the whole time as their are ambulances near by. Had my steroid injections for the baby this week as I'm 37 weeks on Friday. Sounds like they know what they are doing. My hospital has crossed match 4 lots of blood incase I need it ready.