Bicornuate uterus - how much risk?

[wishIwasonholiday10]

I have been referred to the pre-term birth clinic for having a bicornuate uterus but everything was fine at my first cervix scan. I'm just wondering how much of a risk this is for pre-term birth? I didn't even know about it in my first pregnancy which went until 38 weeks with a breech baby so didn't have a chance to get anxious about it. I was thinking of taking a trip in the UK when I would be around 28 weeks (when prices get cheaper when schools go back) but don't know if its a good idea to be further away from a hospital in the 3rd trimester. We are lucky to live very near a large hospital in the case of emergencies although I know not everyone is that lucky in the first place. If we travelled we would be over one hour away from a smaller hospital with the added complication of having to drag our toddler to any hospital visits (whereas at home I could take a taxi if its not an emergency eg reduced movements).

Obviously I will be asking the medical professionals but I haven't got much clear answer from the midwives yet. Keen to hear what advice others have recieved in this situation.

Congrats on your pregnancy :)

I have a partial septate uterus, not exactly bicornuate. Full term x 2.

The overall risk is increased for spontaneous preterm birth when you have a uterine abnormality, but that seems to be related to some type of associated structural weakness with the cervix. Given you’ve been through one pregnancy up to 38 weeks, your cervix has kind of already been “tested” so it’s quite likely you won’t labour early this time again. Not impossible though! Your clinic will probably check your cervix length up to about 24 weeks and if it is remaining normal at that stage then there would be a really low chance of birth at that 28 week mark.

however, even though quite low risk for early labour, there is also a risk that baby might need planned early delivery eg due to growing small - that can change a bit in each pregnancy depending on where the placenta has implanted (depending on exact anatomy variation of your uterus). That is also something they’ll monitor.

by about 24 weeks if the growth is normal and the cervix length is normal I would think you’d be fine to plan a trip around that 28 week mark. But your own team should hopefully be able to provide clearer advice around that :)

I have a bicornuate uterus. No problems with pre term birth but all 3 of mine were fairly small (5-6lbs) at term and I had to have c sections for all of them - first 2 because they were breech and my last one because of failure to progress in labour (bicornuate uteri don’t contract effectively so in my case my cervix barely opened). My first pregnancy my baby was lying in one of the ‘horns’ and squashed my ureter so I had to have a nephrostomy but I think that’s quite rare. First two sections were elective st 38 weeks. Last one was emergency at 40+3. All healthy and grown up (almost) now.

I was recently told I had a septate womb, Im currently 17 weeks and under the prem team. I had my cervix checked yesterday and she said it wasnt as perfect as she liked, so been put on progesterone. I have a scan in 2 weeks. I do have a ds who I went to 40 weeks with so I know its possible but I wasnt aware of the septate womb or didnt have all these ect scans so I really feel anxious this time round. XX