Placenta previa

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Cesarean section

Ultrasound in pregnancy

Anatomy of a normal placenta

Placenta previa

Placenta

Ultrasound, normal fetus - arms and legs

Ultrasound, normal relaxed placenta

Ultrasound, color - normal umbilical cord

Placenta

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Placenta previa

Symptoms:

Spotting during the first and second trimesters
Sudden, painless, and profuse vaginal bleeding in pregnancy during the third trimester (usually after 28 weeks)
Uterine cramping occuring with onset of bleeding

Note: Bleeding may not occur until after labor starts in some cases. Labor sometimes starts within several days after initial heavy, vaginal bleeding.

Signs and tests:

The uterus is usually soft and relaxed. The infant position is oblique ( // ) or transverse ( == ) in about 15% of cases. Fetal distress is not usually present unless a cord accident occurs, or vaginal blood loss has been heavy enough to induce maternal shock or placenta abruptio.

An abdominal ultrasound performed during the second trimester indicates low positioning of the placenta. Transvaginal or transperineal ultrasound can help physicians determine the position of a low-lying placenta.

Review Date: 8/19/2005
Reviewed By: Sharon Roseanne Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Fellow, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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