When a woman is pregnant the fetus is dependent on the woman's health, what she does during pregnancy as well as before pregnancy will impact the baby's health.
OBGYN Dr. Christopher Bloss keeps a careful eye on expectant mothers especially those who may be at risk of complications such as placenta abruption, where the placenta tears away from the mothers uterine wall.
“If you have a separation between the placenta and the uterus, the baby cannot get the nutrients it needs, most importantly at this point, of oxygen and, depending on the degree of the abruption, potentially it could be result in the death of the baby," Dr. Bloss said.
One percent of women experience an abruption of th placenta. Causes?
“It can be caused if mom has an auto-immune disease like lupus," Dr. Bloss said. "If mom has high blood pressure or if she has a condition called pre-clampsia. It can be caused by drug use."
Symptoms to be aware of?
"Sudden onset a very severe abdominal pain," Dr. Bloss said. "Depending on where the abruption happens it can be vaginal bleeding."
Treatment depends on the severity of the abruption, if it's mild doctors may recommend bed rest. The fetus is monitor carefully.
"We are looking at how the baby is doing," Dr. Bloss said. "If the baby heart rate is showing concern then we can we look at delivery."
Not only is the baby's life at risk, so is the mom. Other times it can be a full on hemorrhage.
"Depending on the degree of it the only way to be able to take care of mom and baby is to do a delivery even if it's premature," Dr. Bloss said.
According to Dr. Bloss, placenta abruption occur between the weeks of 28-36 weeks, but it can happen much earlier if you ave any concerns about your pregnancy, contact your doctor immediately.