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Pregnancy

placenta near the exit at 21 weeks, worried, should i be ?!

14 replies

babylove21 · 01/01/2008 17:07

I have just had my 20 week scan at 21 weeks.
Happy to report that all seems as it should with baby. sonographer said placenta was ' near to the exit' and i should go back for a scan at 36 weeks as it may alter my mode of delivery.
She did say it might have moved away by then hence the need for another scan.
Now i am worried, have read all about placenta previa, is this what i have, anyone else had this ... ?
It didnt seem to concern the sonographer but i am worried now.

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Snaf · 01/01/2008 17:19

Try not to worry - you don't have placenta praevia, you have a low-lying placenta at 20 weeks.

At the moment it's not a cause for concern - it's really common at the 20-week scan and the vast majority of placentas have 'moved' by the 36-week scan. The lower half of the uterus stretches 'upwards' to accomodate the baby as it grows, and so the placenta seems to move away from the opening to the cervix.

If it hasn't moved very much by the 36-week scan, then this can mean c-section, but again it depends on exactly how 'near to the exit' it is. If you have any bright red, painless bleeding in the meantime, contact your mw, but otherwise don't worry

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BettySpaghetti · 01/01/2008 17:22

What you have sounds like a low-lying placenta which is quite common around your stage of pregnancy and, in most cases, it moves by the time you have the later scan.

I had it with DS and by the scan at 36 weeks it had moved up.

If you do a search on mumsnet for "low lying placenta" you'll see that its quite common and get more details/experiences.

HTH

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babylove21 · 01/01/2008 17:24

thank you snaf.this is my 3rd pregnancy but with a gap of 17 years it may as well be my first. And i'm not as fearless as i once was so everything now has to be read re read and disected and talked about lol.
i thought her term ' near the exit' was quite sweet thanks again.

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babylove21 · 01/01/2008 17:26

hi betty, i seem to frighten myself when i do searches which is why i love this site.
On the plus side this does mean i will get to see my baby again at 36 weeks

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VirginiaWoolf · 01/01/2008 17:30

I had this with both my DC and both times it was fine, placenta had grown 'up' by the 36 week scan.
Try not to worry, and enjoy your pregnancy!

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BettySpaghetti · 01/01/2008 17:32

babylove21 -the secret is to search here on mumsnet as you will be reassured from firsthand experiences. Never google anything medical (but it sounds as if you already know that ).

BTW the 36 wk scan is amazing if you've never had one before. With my first (DD) I only had a dating scan at 12 wks and the 20 scan so to see a 36 wk scan with DS was a real eye-opener.

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ShinyHappyPeopleHoldingHands · 01/01/2008 17:34

Stop worrying. LOADS of time to move out of the way. Very very common at 20 weeks ish.. especially with subsequent children as a placenta will try not to "settle" on the same secton of womb more than once..

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TheOldestCat · 01/01/2008 17:37

Another one here who had the same thing - it had 'moved' by the 36-week-scan. It's very likely the same will happen to you, so try to relax.

Agree with Betty - the 36-week scan was brilliant; you see so much detail. Don't forget to remind the sonographer if you want to remain ignorant of the sex!

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MothersPrayers · 01/01/2008 19:01

I had a low lying placenta at my 20 week scan too. It was my fourth child and I was also told that the placenta often seeks a "fresh" place to implant in each pregnancy. I was also told that it is very common and in most cases moves up as the womb grows (sorry I don't know the stats).

Sure enough it had moved up at my 36 week scan and I went on to have a home birth.

And I agree with the previous poster- the 36 week scan was great and it was lovely to have this extra look at the baby even though
I had been a bit worried about it all.

I'm sure it will work out OK for you.

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mumofk · 01/01/2008 19:23

Hi, do you know if your placenta is mostly at the front, back or one side? (In jargon- anterior, posterior or lateral, either left or right uterine walls!). Its very rare for placenta to stay low-imagine ( much better if you actually get a balloon to blow up) a balloon, and watch it as it blows up- the bit near the bottom stretches loads. Now if there was a big x on the balloon, it can start off very near the mouth of the balloon but ends up miles away- same as growing stretching uterus.
The interesting bit about where the placenta is, is if it is anterior or the lowest bit (if on one side) is anterior, it'll be absolutely fine. Where I work we've looked at what we've said in scans, and EVERY time anteriorlow bits move up the furthest, never causing concern later.
Your scan to check it could be earlier, like 34 weeks, or if you have an earlier scan for other reasons they may be able to say its fine then. Often, even if the distance to internal os is only 2 cm or even a bit less (depends on the drs involved) they will let you labour but may prefer it to happen in theatre if its v. close at 38 weeks.
Another final thing, the scan to check it later on, especially if posterior placenta, may be internal scan as baby's head can block the view looking on top of your tummy.
All of this is probably too much information- sorry if its scary, I'm trying to be reassuring!
good luck and try to relax,
mumofk

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babylove21 · 01/01/2008 21:58

mumofk, i prefer to know the what if's but given all the positive replies i can at least stop worrying myself about it.Your comparison with the balloon is excellent and i can visualise exactly what should happen now. I hope the baby doesnt block the view, i don't mind the internal scan but would i still get the plus side of seeing my baby?
Thanks you lot, your great

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chunkypudding · 02/01/2008 16:16

hi babylove, you will be able to see the baby but as it'll be so big by then it's actually really hard to tell what you are looking at! (everything's in close-up compared to the 20-week scan where you can still see all of the baby at once quite clearly..)

I had a scan to check placenta at 34-ish weeks (it had moved up btw so another reassurance there) and the only really really clear thing we saw were some little baby testicles!!

everything else was in such extreme close-up it was pretty hard to make out

oh, another vote for not using google for medical worries ever ever. can truly scare the crap out of you for no good reason...
xx

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Chaotica · 02/01/2008 17:22

Don't worry and don't google!

I had this and the placenta moved (with no bleeding), but not enough for the baby's head to engage properly so I ended up having a c-section. It was all very calm and pleasant and not like the hard work I had with my first dc. The result is sitting on my knee demanding yet another feed (My only problem was that I didn't want to know the sex and it was pretty unavoidable on late scans!)

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babylove21 · 02/01/2008 22:35

Just an update -
Saw mw today.she read scan notes and explained that the placenta is just above the opening but not to worry as most do move away by the time i have my scan at 36 weeks.
The placenta is at the front, i dont know if that makes much difference, but she did say for now it might make it harder to hear the heartbeat. But she did manage it and baby sounded very happy.