Placental abnormalities

Thoughts on VBA3+C (VBAC after three or more prior cesareans)

A mom recently asked over on the VBAC Facts Community, “Does anyone have some facts on vab3c?” I provided this mish-mash of info… [...]

Woman has 4th cesarean, 8 hour surgery, and requires 33 gallons of blood

What a miracle this woman survived! This was her fifth baby and fourth cesarean.

She had a complication known as placenta percreta which is when “the placenta attaches itself and grows through the uterus, sometimes extending to nearby organs, such as the bladder” (March of Dimes 2012). The risk of having placenta accreta, increta, [...]

Placenta problems in VBAMC/ after multiple repeat cesareans

I thought that I would take the data from the Silver (2006) that I’ve previously discussed and share it in a different way that would be helpful to women with multiple prior cesareans. (You might find it worthwhile to read this article specifically, where you can view the data below in graphs, as well as [...]

Just kicking the can of risk down the road

If primary and secondary cesarean rates continue to rise as they have in recent years, by 2020 the cesarean delivery rate will be 56.2%, and there will be an additional 6236 placenta previas, 4504 placenta accretas, and 130 maternal deaths annually. The rise in these complications will lag behind the rise in cesareans by approximately 6 years. [...]

Risk of serious complications increase with each cesarean surgery

Shows the rates of placenta accreta in up to six cesareans (Silver 2006).

Per Silver (2006), “The risks of placenta accreta, cystotomy [surgical incision of the urinary bladder], bowel injury, ureteral [ureters are muscular ducts that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder] injury, and ileus [disruption of the normal propulsive gastrointestinal motor activity], the need for postoperative ventilation, intensive care unit admission, hysterectomy, and blood transfusion requiring 4 or more units, and the duration of operative time and hospital stay significantly increased with increasing number of cesarean deliveries.” [...]

Placenta accreta – a risk of cesarean section

There is this idea that if you don’t VBAC and you schedule a repeat cesarean, that you will be safe from complications. This is because during a “VBAC counsel,” women are often told of the risks of VBAC, namely uterine rupture, but they are rarely told the risks of repeat cesareans in their current and [...]