Anterior placenta

[Soapaddict18]

Hi Everyone!
Just been for a scan this afternoon. I’m 16 + 4 and been told by sonographer I have a low-lying anterior placenta. At the time it kind of went over my head and I didn’t ask any questions and now started to worry about it. Does anyone have any experience that they can share with me? Will I have additional scans? Will I have to have a c-section or more likely to have one? Seems to be that it makes gestational diabetes and other things more likely. I’m going to ring my mid-wife tomorrow but am worrying and anyone’s thoughts are gratefully received. Thank you xx

Nothing to worry about at the mo.

Anterior just means at the front; that can sometimes mean it’s a bit more tricky to feel movements when they start.

Low lying is just an observation at the moment. As you grow and your uterus stretches the placenta moves with it.

They’ll scan you again at 20 weeks and if there’s any worry that the placenta is still low they’ll chat to you about it then.

Put it out of your mind for now.

I had anterior placentas with both DC pregnancies and it caused no trouble in either. The only down side was that I felt movement a bit later than some ladies but once I started feeling movements they were very strong.

I had one. No issues at all except my husband couldn't feel the kicks until I was at full term. I could feel the kicks inside but they weren't obvious on the outside. That's literally it.

Thanks @LattieLover12 @miki123 @GiraffeObsessedBaby it was just a bit of a shock. I’ve been feeling flutterings for past few weeks now so hopefully that will continue. Thanks for all of your positive comments. They have really helped x

I had one and the only issue I had was feeling kicks later than usual. Normal vaginal delivery etc

Thank you @toothtruth xx

I was fine too , I just felt like ds was punching and kicking my insides as the pregnancy progressed. I could feel and see his back and bottom moving around on the front of my tummy though.

Thank you @MajicFajita xx

You'll be fine @Soapaddict18 I too am a researcher and worrier and I saw that on my notes so i panicked. Mine was placenta previa (at the bottom) which would have meant a section if it didn't move but it did and moved to anterior by the time I was 16 weeks. I felt first movements at 21 weeks I think but my placenta by that point was literally covering the entire front of my belly so it was hard to feel if he kicked my belly rather than my side or back.

But I had a "normal" vaginal delivery a few issues but nothing to do with the placenta during the labour.

It'll just become part of normal daily life soon. Don't worry =]

Thank you so much for sharing @GiraffeObsessedBaby. I think I just wish I had asked more questions earlier today and panicked myself by my lack of knowledge. Sometimes google is a dangerous thing lol. You have really reassured me. I think I always think the worst. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with me xx

I had the same with DS2. I had an additional scan to check the placenta had moved up a bit (it had). The only other thing worth noting for me was that I couldn't easily feel movements until quite late. I did end up going in for reduced movements monitoring a couple of times as a result, but the pregnancy was pretty easy and DS2 was fine.

Thanks @badgeronabicycle When did you have your additional scan?xx

@Soapaddict18 I think around 26 weeks as it was still a bit low at my 20 week scan. They didn't seem worried though, told me it was just routine and very unlikely to be a problem, which it wasn't. Try not to worry, you're very early I your pregnancy and it's highly likely the placenta will move up as your womb expands.

No worries @Soapaddict18 the ultrasound techs sometimes aren't the best I got a very mixed bag as I had regular growth scans as my bmi was .03 over the top limit (pretty ridiculous but still) so I had ALOT of scans. But I had to train myself. I'd give myself 10 minutes googling and I would only stick to mums sites like mumsnet. Then I would talk to my midwife. Really helped me get a control of stresses and worries. Youll be fine. Pretty soon you'll be fighting a 9 month old who doesn't want to sleep at 3am in the morning wishing they were still kicking your kidneys from the inside instead!

Thanks @badgeronabike and @GiraffeObsessedBaby It’s good to know what coulda happen. I will try to limit googling. Thanks so much for all of your help :-) xx

Just wanted to add another note of reassurance - other than feeling movement slightly later it didn’t affect things at all. Natural vaginal birth.

I was worried about it making it more likely for the baby to end up back-to-back (thanks Google!) so spent a lot of my third trimester bouncing on a ball in my living room rather than lying on the sofa as this is meant to be good for positioning. Can’t say whether this made a difference or not but his position was perfect for labour...

Thanks @MonkeyToucher I’ve just spoken to my mid-wife today. Got my 20 week scan booked in 4 weeks then next scan she said would be 32 weeks. Looks like cervix only partially blocked so fingers crossed it moves away over next few months. Suppose it’s just a waiting game now. Feel so much better now I’m forewarned with info. I like to know all the ins and outs. Thank you so much for everyone’s help and advice. I couldn’t have gotten through last night without it xx