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anyone have a low lying, anterior placenta with a previous c-section

Erin&RodErin&Rod
in 2nd Trimester
I was told last week that I had a low lying, anterior placenta. My doctor didn't seem too concerned. He just said that I would have an u/s at 30 weeks to see if it moved. He said my c-section scar could complicate things, but didn't say anything more. Of course, I googled it and found that the placenta could burrow into the scar tissue and cause lots of blood loss during cesarean delivery and could cause me to lose my uterus. Now I can't stop worrying about this and wondering about how common this is. Is anyone in this situation? Did your doctor give you any more insight than mine did? I will definitely talk more with my doctor at my next appointment now that I know that this could happen.
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Re: anyone have a low lying, anterior placenta with a previous c-section

  • MoMandAMoMandA

    I have a marginal posterior placenta and a c-section scar, so not quite the same issue, but I understand your concern. We talked about what could happen if my placenta reached the scar. My OB commented that placentas move quite a bit as the uterus expands. And that they generally move up because the uterus is expanding up.

    Not every placenta that touches the scar forms an accreta. And not every accreta is related to the scar. Your OB should repeatedly check for elevated excess alpha-fetoprotein levels and do another ultrasound at 28 weeks. Not every accreta can be confirmed by U/S. If you aren't satisfied with your OBs answers or he doesn't seem clear about how to identify an accreta, I would ask for a refereal to a MFM.  

     If you have questions now, you should call you OB's office. There is no reason why you should have to wait until your next appointment to discuss this.

    And good luck.

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  • Erin&RodErin&Rod
    imageMoMandA:

    I have a marginal posterior placenta and a c-section scar, so not quite the same issue, but I understand your concern. We talked about what could happen if my placenta reached the scar. My OB commented that placentas move quite a bit as the uterus expands. And that they generally move up because the uterus is expanding up.

    Not every placenta that touches the scar forms an accreta. And not every accreta is related to the scar. Your OB should repeatedly check for elevated excess alpha-fetoprotein levels and do another ultrasound at 28 weeks. Not every accreta can be confirmed by U/S. If you aren't satisfied with your OBs answers or he doesn't seem clear about how to identify an accreta, I would ask for a refereal to a MFM.  

     If you have questions now, you should call you OB's office. There is no reason why you should have to wait until your next appointment to discuss this.

    And good luck.

    Thanks for your help. I was wondering why I should repeatedly have my alpha-fetoprotein levels checked. Isn't this test for neural tube defects?
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  • MoMandAMoMandA
    There are multiple articles discussing the incidence rates of accreta and elevated levels. Here is a relatively user friendly one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7687756
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