A placental abruption is a serious potentially life threatening condition. In a normal pregnancy the placenta is attached to the uterine wall however for some women, roughly 1 out of 200 pregnancies the placenta partially or completely detaches from the uterine wall. This condition is most common during the last stage of pregnancy, the third trimester.
The main sign of placental abruption is vaginal bleeding during your pregnancy. However, an estimated 20% of cases will not show blood. The other symptoms of this condition include uterine tenderness, rapid contractions, pain in the abdomen, as well as fetal heart rate problems. If you suspect that you have this problem, there are several things that doctors can do to double-check. You can schedule an ultrasound, but this will only show half of your uterus. Often, an obstetrician must observe your contractions and the fetal response to them (including changes in heart rate) in order to gauge whether or not you have this issue.
Most miscarriages cannot be prevented because this is the body's way of stopping an unhealthy or abnormal pregnancy. Molar pregnancy is the presence and growth of an abnormal tissue instead of an embryo; on the other hand, an ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy wherein implantation occurs in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus. Ectopic Pregnancy is a serious condition and requires immediate attention.
Heavy bleeding during pregnancy can be caused by several placental complications the most common are Placental Abruption and Placenta Previa. Placental Abruption is a condition where the placenta abruptly disengages itself from the uterine wall. It is generally brought on by an extreme trauma, such as a car accident or a fall, and should be tended to by your physician immediately.
Premature detachment of a normally situated placenta is placental abruption where the exact cause for this condition is unknown. The detachment may be partial or complete. Placental previa is the condition where the placenta is located in lower segment of the uterus, partially or completely covering the opening of the cervix. It leads to severe bleeding during second and third trimesters of pregnancy. The exact cause of placental previa is not known.
If the placenta is lying low, it may cover all or some of the cervix and this affects approximately one in two hundred pregnancies. A lot of women experience placenta previa during early pregnancy, it moves before labour occurs in most cases. A cesarean section is scheduled if a women still has placenta previa even in the last weeks of pregnancy. If before labour occurs, placenta previa is present and not diagnosed then there is a serious risk for both the mother and the baby putting both at a risk of death in this situation.
Most women are informed about their low lying placenta in their first trimester. This is placenta previa. If the placenta does not shifts up during the period of pregnancy, A cesarean is usually planned for such cases. In placental abruption the placenta separates itself from the lining of the womb which results in the severe pain, and the chances are that fetus will be starved from oxygen in this case.
Read About Week By Week Pregnancy and Pregnancy Week By Week and also read Pregnancy Forums