By The Well-Rounded Mama, September 13, 2013
Placenta Accreta, Part Three: Risks to Mother and Baby
Read the full article here.
Summary:
Accretas may be mild or severe, but all involve a very significant risk for complications.
Blood loss is the most common and serious risk of accretas. Secondary to the blood loss, other complications like D.I.C., long-lasting anemia, and Sheehan’s Syndrome can occur.
Mothers can also experience damage to abdominal organs near the uterus, either from a percreta, surgical damage, or impairment secondary to blood loss.
Most women with significant accretas also lose their uterus, forever impacting their fertility. Emotionally, many experience significant post-traumatic stress issues as well.
Babies of accreta pregnancies are also affected. They are nearly always born premature, with all the complications this can entail. They may also be small for their age and may spend significant amounts of time in the NICU.
Although rare in modern medical facilities in the First World, occasionally mothers and/or babies even lose their lives due to accreta, despite excellent planning and the best possible care.
Clearly, accreta is a complication which deserves to be taken very seriously indeed.
Since a cesarean section is the biggest risk factor for accretas, the high cesarean rate in many parts of the world has significant implications. Lowering the rate of non-indicated cesareans and increasing access to VBAC may help prevent many cases of this MAJOR complication.
#ICANsavelives
Reposted with permission from The Well-Rounded Mama.
References are on the original post here.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four of this series.
