Low papp a

[alixmay]

Just posting this for some reassurance more than anything..

Today I had my 16 week appointment and they spoke about how i've got low papp a and my midwife was discussing how this can cause still borns etc.. ever since she said the word 'still born' my mind has been on overdrive and i just can't stop thinking the worst!

Has anyone had this during a pregnancy and everything turned out okay? I obviously know that it's not 100% guaranteed that i'm going to have a still born etc but I just can't help how much I worry

Don't panic!!!
I had this, with my first baby I had regular growth scans, he was born on the second centile at 5lb13oz, absolutely fine, I actually got in trouble with the health visitor as he was gaining weight so quickly! Second time around after a slightly small 1st baby they prescribed me aspirin during pregnancy to help baby grow, regular growth scans and they planned to induce me at 39 weeks but she arrived the day before weighing 6lb9! They'll monitor you, try not to worry too much xx

Hi @alixmay I have very low papp a (0.22 mom) and my hospital never mentioned asprin although I know most do. I'm now 32 weeks and baby has been measuring bang on expected so far. I have extra scans to check all is ok with growth and flow through the cord and placenta. They will closely monitor you to make sure baby is ok. Try not to worry!

I’ve got low papp a this time around and am 36 weeks. He’s been measuring between the 30th and 50th percentile throughout but I have scans every 2 weeks to check he’s still growing, albeit slowly. They want to induce me around 38 weeks. It’s been quite nice being under consultant care with regular appointments as I’d normally not see much of my midwife second time around.

Please don’t panic . I had a very low papp-a (0.24) and had an absolutely normal and perfect pregnancy . I had regular growth scans as that was the procedure but nothing showed up in terms of the placenta etc . My friend also had the same experience last year . The midwife even admitted that it was very common to just get random high result on one blood test and unfortunately they don’t repeat it to see if it changes etc xx

thankyou so much lovelies!

you've all honestly made me feel so much better. it's nice to know other people have been in the same situation but have all have had a good outcome. i'm just always thinking the worst now as still birth has always been my biggest fear! as along with everyone else i'm sure. will try and keep positive tho and i'm sure everything will be fine :))💛

It’s correlation to low birth weight, not causation. Ask about aspirin or go out and get some yourself it’s 150mg a day in the night until 36 weeks.

Low papp a alone though is not cause for early induction especially if foetal growth looks steady. Anything between 3rd and 97th centile is ‘normal’ from a growth point of view.