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Pregnancy |
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Is this normal? |
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| Q. |
I am 24 weeks pregnant and have just been for an ultrasound which showed I have placenta previa. My doctor wants me to have a c-section but my midwife tells me that it can still move into the right place – is this something you can treat? |
| A. |
The Fertility Support Company can treat placenta previa, but we would not do so until the last trimester, and at the moment you are still in the middle of your second trimester. Let me explain why: placenta previa is a condition in which the implantation of the placenta at least partially covers the cervix. It occurs in about one in 200 pregnancies.
Diagnosing a previa is usually made when there is painless bleeding during the third trimester or when there are premature contractions, but there is also a false positive diagnosis made using ultrasound when the doctor may suspect the uterus measuring larger than it should be according to dates.
There are many more previas diagnosed at the second trimester ultrasound that at any other stage of pregnancy. Typically at 16 weeks the placenta takes up 25-50% of the surface area inside the uterus. The third trimester brings a growth of the lower uterine segment, which out-flanks the growth of the placenta. For these reasons, while 5% of pregnancies are diagnosed with complete previa in second trimester ultrasounds, you will see 90% of them resolved by term and while 45% of pregnancies are diagnosed with marginal previas, you will see 95% resolved at term. A follow up ultrasound will be done, and as noted above the vast majority of previas are not seen.
In other words, it should be noted that the internal part of the cervix is not formed until the last 3 months. Therefore you can be 90% sure that the placenta is where it should be until then, and as the cervix grows the placenta will move up into its rightful place. The Fertility Support Company will therefore treat placenta previa in the last trimester in order to facilitate its movement upward and encourage it to uncover the cervix which will lead to a greater possibility of a natural birth.
Typically, it takes three to six treatments to see whether the previa can be moved. Acupuncture works with the Qi of the body. Like an acupuncture ‘induction,’ we cannot force the body to do something which it is not ready to do. However, we can encourage the Qi to be strong enough to circulate effectively through the body, so if the placenta is ready or willing to move, it will do so. Our success rate is about 1 in 3 women, and the treatment has so far in practice not proven to have any side effects, as it only moves if it is safe for it to do so. |
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