Low lying placenta scan Please Help

[Lady929]

Hi I have a 32 week scan to check position of placenta to see if it is still low lying. I know a lot of these type of scans have to be done Transvaginal but I have vaginismus and starting to feel sick about it. I find internal examinations traumatic and I don’t think they are going to be able to do it transvaginally.

Is there any way of doing it abdominally? I will try to have the internal one and explain my situation but I’m so anxious at the moment that I feel it will be physically impossible to do internally.

Please no comments about it’s painless, it only takes a short while etc. That is not the case for all women.

I was under the impression they do abdominal first, and only do transvaginal if it's a very close call between c section or vaginal birth. If it's such a close call, remember you can always just decline the transvaginal scan but I guess they may then just schedule a c section. Hope it goes okay for you!

Midwife sonographer here. Don’t worry, 32 week scans for placental localisation are transabdominal. If the sonographer thinks your placenta is still low lying you’ll probably be referred for a consultant scan at 34-36 weeks (that’s the protocol in our trust) and there’s a possibility of transvaginal scan at that point depending on views obtained transabdominally but we would only do TV if absolutely necessary. Most of the time the 32 week scan will show that the placenta has moved so hopefully that will be the case and you won’t need any further scans 🤞

@potentialdogowner @MojoJojo71 thank you so much for putting my mind at ease! I’m glad they do it abdominally first as I know it will have probably moved by now anyway.

Thank you so much for replying quickly, it’s really helped me calm down as I was so anxious anyway 😃X

I had a low lying placenta at 20 weeks. Had a scan at 32 and it’s moved. It was just a normal scan and was great to see the baby again. I’m going back at 36 just for them to confirm everything and double check the placenta again.