Low lying placenta 32 weeks - chances of moving?

[hopingforapeainapod]

At my 20 week scan I was told I had a low lying posterior placenta but not to worry as 95% of the time it moves up. Anyway just had a scan at 32 weeks up and placenta is still low, roughly 6mm from cervix (they want it 20-30mm+) and they think it’s very unlikely to move but I will be rescanned at 36 weeks and if still low I will need a c section. Just wondering if anyone had any similar experiences? I’m also curious as to when people had their c sections…

@Pickleton1992 how did it all go today? I had a bit of a scary weekend - had a bleed on Saturday, wasn’t huge and luckily stopped pretty quickly but was in hospital til Monday evening. Had a scan this morning and placenta basically hasn’t moved at all, is only 7mm, so a c section it is. Surprisingly the consultant wanted to do this close to 39 weeks which I tried to push back on as I don’t want to risk going into early labour or having another bleed and my nice calm planned c section turning into an emergency one… I should get a c section date either Friday or Monday but really hoping they give me one closer to 38 weeks… I maybe should have pushed back even more but it’s hard not to get white coat syndrome!

@Pickleton1992 so they aren’t exactly sure what caused the bleeding, probably my cervix just getting irritated somehow - at risk of TMI I was really constipated last week and straining a bit and that probably didn’t help matters…!! They gave me an examination as soon as I got in just to check no signs of early labour and then just monitored me for a few days - they basically said they wanted me to stay in til the bleeding had stopped for at least 24 hours.

hmm that’s not very helpful from the doctor? If it’s 37 weeks that could be very soon though!

It’s not pathetic at all! It’s so much to get our heads around so late in the game - I am feeling all the emotions right now - excitement / relief that I at least know what’s happening, disappointment as it’s not how I envisioned my first birth at all, slightly terrified (I have never had surgery before or really any medical procedures that involve anything stronger than paracetamol so this is all completely new to me!)

A friend recommended c section uk on Instagram and they do some courses and I’ve had a look already and they look great, so that might help!

My husband also made the point to me today that for us it’s this huge scary once in a lifetime experience, but for doctors they literally do this surgery day in day out so this is very normal for them!

@Pickleton1992 not really - they basically said take it easy, no heavy lifting, drink lots of prune juice lol and no intercourse until baby is here… yes once I realised baby and I were safe I was just desperate to go home, I felt really well cared for but I just hate being in hospitals! I just binge watched lots of series…

Husband is finding the news okay, I think it’s what he expected - he’s naturally very laid back and I am definitely the worrier in the relationship so I do wonder whether he wouldn’t tell me if he was worried / scared anyway because he wouldn’t want to make me stress out more! I don’t think it has necessarily dawned on him yet though how intense the recovery can be…

@Pickleton1992 ah I am the same the heartburn has been unreal! I have been quite likely in that I haven’t had too many bad pregnancy symptoms but I agree I can’t wait to be able to eat and drink what I want and be able to lie down on my front and sleep on my back!!

out of interest, have you been given a c section date? I have been given one for when I am 39 weeks exactly which seems very late. My consultant said they normally like to do it between 38.5 and 39 weeks and I tried to push back on this because I don’t want to risk going into labour early / another bleed and so I requested closer to 38 weeks but that’s clearly been ignored! The RCOG guidance is very clear you should go earlier as well… am going to call and try and rearrange on Monday but would just be interested to hear what you’ve been recommended!

@Pickleton1992 eee this Friday, so soon! How are you feeling?? Can’t believe you will be meeting your baby by this weekend! ❤️

So I called my midwife this morning and tried to really relay my worries about waiting until 39 weeks ie I am worried about going into labour early / having another bleed and a planned section turning into an emergency one etc… she seemed to take this on board but I also felt that she tried to guilt trip me a bit by saying that they like to leave them as late as possible to allow their lungs to fully develop, which I sort of understand but it’s about balancing risk and I think for the safety of me AND baby it would make sense to be closer to 38. Anyway she said she would speak to the consultant / scheduling team and get back to me but I imagine I will have to chase again! It’s so hard to know what the right thing to do is, part of me gets white coat syndrome and wants to just trust the experts but I also cynically wonder whether there are other factors at play like being very busy and wanting to keep slots open…

@Pickleton1992 how are you doing? Did you have your c section on Friday? So been a whirlwind week for me here - had some bleeding on Wednesday last week so went back into hospital and on Thursday morning they were like right we think we should do the section now after all to stop risk of another bleed so baby boy born Thursday 03/10 at 37+1! All went well and we were discharged next day - had a few issues with feeding as he is a bit sleepy and young but otherwise all good!

I was told I had placenta previa at 20 weeks. It never moved. It was a very severe case from what I can understand. Anyway, my hospital was very reluctant to bring the baby any earlier than 37 weeks and even then I had to have 2 doses of steroids for baby's lungs.

I won't go into too much detail, from what I can gather mine was pretty severe. Cervix completely covered. I had to have a follow up appointment after the birth and they couldn't say either way whether it would happen again. From what I remember, scar tissue can cause it and I'd had surgical intervention for 2 prior MMCs so do wonder if that's why I had it and why it was so bad.

Hope everything goes well. Not long now!

Ph so sorry just saw your update. Congratulations! Glad all went well

@Pickleton1992 congratulations on your baby! I’m really sorry to hear things aren’t going as planned though, I naively didn’t even realise you could get pre-eclampsia solely postpartum! Are you still in hospital now? I hope you are being looked after well at least and can get home soon xx