If you have a condition that affects your placenta during pregnancy, look for experienced, specialized care from the maternal-fetal medicine doctors at the Women's & Children's Hospital.
Placenta Conditions
The placenta provides nutrients to your fetus during pregnancy. Typically, the placenta detaches from the uterine wall and comes out after the baby.
Sometimes the placenta attaches too deeply to the uterus — but has not penetrated the uterine muscle — and is not able to deliver naturally. This is known as placenta accreta. Depending on the severity of the placenta attachment, your condition could also be known as placenta increta (when the placenta implants deeper into the uterine wall) or placenta percreta (completely penetrates the uterine wall and possibly other organs).
Potential Complications of Placenta Accreta
Placenta accreta can cause pregnancy complications such as:
- Heavy vaginal bleeding (hemorrhaging) after birth that can cause life-threatening blood loss if not treated
- Early labor and premature birth for your baby if bleeding begins during your pregnancy
Placenta Accreta Signs and Symptoms
Often there are no signs or symptoms of placenta accreta. Vaginal bleeding during the third trimester could be a sign of a placenta problem. If you bleed anytime during your pregnancy, talk to your doctor right away.
Testing and Diagnosis
Your doctor uses ultrasound scans to diagnose placenta accreta. Most often, placenta accreta is found during a routine ultrasound in the second or third trimester of pregnancy. Sometimes doctors use a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test to see how deep the placenta is in your uterine wall.
Expert Treatment
Expertise is essential when developing a plan for delivery with placenta accreta. Find support and high-quality treatment of high-risk pregnancy conditions at our high-level maternal care center. The Level IV maternal and neonatal care center at the Women's & Children's Hospital has specialists with extensive experience in treating placenta accreta.
Delivery
If your doctor diagnoses you with placenta accreta early, you’ll deliver your baby via Cesarean section. Your doctor will decide if you can safely deliver early or at full-term based on the risk to you and your baby.
Sometimes after delivery, a hysterectomy may be necessary to prevent severe blood loss.
Multidisciplinary Care Team
Receive personalized, family-centered care for you and your baby. Your multidisciplinary care team may include:
- Maternal-fetal medicine specialists
- Gynecologic oncologists
- Obstetric anesthesiologists
- Trauma surgeons and critical care specialists
- Neonatologists
- Blood bank and transfusion medicine staff
- Urologists
- Radiologist and interventional radiologists
- Specialized nurses