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Placenta praevia

Placenta praevia · Vcestné lůžko (placenta praevia)

female only

What it is

The placenta implants low and covers or reaches the cervix, so it bleeds as the cervix opens in late pregnancy; one birth in 200.

Symptoms & signs

  • Painless bright-red bleeding after 20 weeks
  • bleeding after sex
  • baby lying breech or sideways
  • often found on the 20-week scan with no symptoms

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now Any bleeding from the vagina in the second half of pregnancy
  • call 112 / 911 now Heavy bleeding, dizziness or fainting
  • see a doctor soon Contractions or belly pain with a low-lying placenta
  • see a doctor soon Baby moving less than usual

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Transvaginal ultrasound to confirm (no examination with fingers)
  • rescan at 32 and 36 weeks — most low placentas move up
  • admission and blood ready if bleeding
  • steroids for the baby's lungs before 34 weeks
  • planned caesarean at 36–37 weeks

Natural & lifestyle

  • Avoid sex and heavy exertion while bleeding is likely
  • stop smoking
  • live near the hospital in late pregnancy

Emerging & experimental

  • MRI and ultrasound scoring for placenta accreta
  • preventive balloon occlusion of the pelvic arteries

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Strict bed rest — traditional advice; no trial shows benefit, and it raises the risk of clots anecdotal / traditional
  • Raspberry-leaf tea — a traditional 'womb tonic'; untested, and not for a bleeding placenta anecdotal / traditional

ICD codes