Placental Abruption

by Zev Gershon MD, JD specializes in Cerebral Palsy cases.
When the placenta prematurely separates from the uterine wall the result is a Placental Abruption. One of the signs a health care provider should look out for is bleeding. Serious bleeding, or severe abdominal can indicate the onset of a Placental Abruption. The fetal heart rate monitor will also show signs of fetal distress, possibly indicating that the placenta is abrupting. A health care provider should be taking all of these indicators and factors into account during labor and delivery.

If the placenta is abrupting on the posterior side of the uterus you don’t have the vaginal bleeding or severe abdominal pain to indicate that there is a Placental Abruption because blood will not be coming out and pain will not necessarily be felt. However there will be signs on the fetal heart monitor and the health provider will be sensitive to clues that something else is going on, and that this woman needs extra attention and care to make sure that the delivery occurs before the fetus suffers from distress.

Many of the symptoms that cause a Placental Abruption such as hypertension are well known. Drugs can also be a cause of Placental Abruption. Women who are pregnant should not take drugs that are not prescribed by their physician and they should notify their physician of all medicines they are taking.