Placenta not seen at 20 wk scan?

[Puppie]

Hi there! Had my 20 wk scan yesterday but the Sonographer could not see the placenta anywhere. Has anyone had the same thing or know if it is cause for concern?

if you have a healthy , moving , growing , kicking baby in there, there is a placenta... without it , the baby would not be alive.....did he say he could not see it? not that there isn;t one? IFYSWIM

With my very basic knowledge I would think that if everything was ok with the baby the placenta MUST be there somewhere as that is what sustains the baby after 12 weeks.

Did they give you any feedback?

snap lulu :D

It'll be there somewhere - I do find that rather odd, though. Did s/he recommend a follow-up or referral? Was the baby OK? Just possibly you have placenta praevia and the sonographer wasn't looking for a low-lying one (just speculating - I have pp and don't I know about it). I think if you are really worried, a call to your MW followed by referral for repeat scan might be in order. But thae fact that your baby is growing and developing means there is definitely a placenta somewhere iyswim

placenta is either posterior, anterior or low down....i think that is it ! it is in there somewhere

what a shame you have been left feeling so concerned

Hi there! I have a follow up scan at 32 wks but seems so long to wait. Common sense was telling me it had to have a plcaenta somewhere because it was moving about and heart beating but just a bit confused!

phone the hospital , speak to someone,explain you have been left feeling very concerend, and need some reassurance as to the position of the placenta..

there is a placenta, or there would be no baby. so you just need some clarification, 12 weeks is to long to wait

do you think maybe, the placenta was low down, placenta previa, as Berolian suggested, and the follow up scan is to see if it has moved out of teh way of the cervix?

what do your notes say?

was about to suggest looking to see what they wrote in your notes - if it's incomprehensible, post it and someone'll translate

yep ! definitely !

Lulumama and MrsB I didnt think to look at my notes but had a look and my 12 wk scan has it at posterior but 20 wk has just been left blank. She did not say that there was no placenta but just that she could not see it. Am hoping that if it was a problem she would have had me in for the follow up scan before 32wks. Berolina not sure what Placenta Previa means so am going to look that up now.

Hmm. I'm sure it's OK but how worrying for you, and how crap of them to let you worry.

Placenta praevia is when the placenta is low down in the uterus, touching or covering the cervix. It's often not a problem but if you have the kind where the cervix is covered (as I do) it can lead to bleeding and vaginal delivery is usually impossible. It's not nice but pretty common. I doubt you have it tbh (and if you do it may very well 'move' away), but I would certainly ask for a reassurance scan, if 'only' for your own peace of mind.

Berolina are there any outward physical signs of the low lying placenta? I know that my pubic area has been rock hard for the last few weeks ... Am probably just being paranoid now!

I found out when I had a sudden, massive, painless bleed that stopped as quickly as it had started. This is the most common and actually really only sign.

Oh crumbs, sorry if I've worried you, probably unnecessarily. I do think, though, it would be very helpful to you to know where your placenta is.

LOL No worries Berolina!

puppie..if you had low lying placenta, it would have been noted....also, if placenta was posterior at 12 weeks, it cannot move back down, over the cervix, so IMHO ,it is really unlikely you have placenta previa

what is more likely, is that the placenta is still posterior. but the sonographer has not noted it , that is all

your placenta is there, and it is unlikely you have anything to worry about

Ta Lulumama!