Placenta Previa
How is the condition diagnosed?
Every woman with vaginal bleeding who might have this condition should be hospitalized and evaluated. The bleeding may become a hemorrhage without warning.
Tests include:
a pregnancy ultrasound to check the placenta's location and rule out placenta abruptio, or separation of the placenta from the uterine wall
continuous fetal monitoring to assess the baby's well-being
finding the fetus's position by feeling the mother's abdomen. In about one-third of the cases of placenta previa, the baby is lying sideways or buttocks-first in the uterus.
complete blood counts, or CBCs, to follow the mother's blood losses
In many cases, placenta previa causes no symptoms and detected only by pregnancy ultrasound in the early second trimester. In these cases, no symptoms may ever occur and the placenta later may become normally situated.
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