ask for my friend [placenta] [ultrasound]
I have a question that I need to ask for my best friend who is pregnant. She was 23 weeks. She had her ultrasound at the end of January and everything was fine. Well yesterday her OBs office called and said she needed to come in for another u / s because “her placenta was not in the right place.” At first I wondered, why not tell her that the u / s? Apparently she did not ask for more information or what that might mean, so Im curious, what would that mean? The only thing I could think of placenta previa would be. Sound good, or are there other things that could go along with your placenta is not in the right place?
Reply:I'm glad it's not a big deal. There were a few women on here the last time I was pregnant who had a similar situation and it moved up and out of the way by late in the 3rd trimester.
Reply:Hi. She did see the OB and all they said was that it was 2 inches from the cervix so she does not have previa. They are just going to do another u/s when she gets into her third trimester to make sure it's moved further away or that it has at least stayed where it's at and doesn't begin to cover the cervix. So she was happy and all is well!
Thanks for your help everyone!:)
Reply:Let us know what her OB says. I'm glad she's not too worried. Placenta location really isn't much to worry about as far as the health of the mom or the baby.
Reply:Thanks everyone! I guess I was assuming they would've told her because when I went in for my u/s there was a tech and a perinatologist in the room with me. The reason is because I am on heart medication and they also did a fetal echo at the time of my u/s and they did tell me that they found a hole in her heart right then and there. So I guess that is why I figured they would've told her straight away. I wasn't thinking about the fact that she would've only had the u/s tech there during her u/s. So that makes sense.
She actually wasn't really worried about it, she just didn't know what it meant, so I thought I'd try to find out for her. She has an appointment with her OB today so she should find out what is going on then.
Thanks for all your help!
Reply:The only thing I could find in my book was placenta previa, where the placenta is covering all or part of the cervix, which can sometimes make early delivery if it is severe, some women placenta previa requires cesarean section
Reply:Unfortunately, the ultrasound technicians are not allowed to discuss potential medical concerns with patients. That has to come from her doctor. So, that's probably why she wasn't told at the ultrasound. I have learned the hard way to ask the question "is there any reason why my doctor will be calling me regarding this ultrasound?" Thankfully, I haven't had any of them tell me yes, but they're usually honest about general questions before they tell you they can't discuss it with you.
I think there are a couple more placenta location things than placenta previa, but I don't think that any of them are detrimental to the baby, so tell you friend to try not to worry about it until she talks to her doctor. Honestly, I don't know why it took this long for them to call her. Clearly, it's not a major problem or they would have called right away. Her doctor will discuss the specifics with her and decide on a course of action. I really think that the only thing that could be an issue with the info you gave is that she could need a c-section if the placenta is in the way of delivering the baby. But, sometimes it moves up and out of the way later in pregnancy, so she shouldn't worry about that right now either, as hard as that is.
Hope this helps some.
Reply:Hi Delia,
My understanding with the ultrasounds, if the actual doctor is not performing the ultrasound, the tech doing it, is not allowed to say a word (legal reasons, if they give you false information, cause the patient to suffer unecessarily etc.)..so they give the info to the doctor who can see the 'big picture' and deliver an appropriate message. Sucks I know, I went in before I was pregnant to see if I had PCOS, and the tech could see cysts all over my ovaries, but could not say a word- good news is I got pregnant anyway- didn't seem to matter for me
