Placental abruption: symptoms, causes, and treatment

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What is placental abruption?

Placental abruption or placental abruption (placental abruption) is the untimely detachment of the placenta. This condition is a serious pregnancy complication.

The time for placental abruption is before birth so that the placenta is separated before labor occurs.

The placenta that has detached from the uterine wall cannot stick back. This results in a reduced amount of oxygen and nutrients in the baby and causes bleeding during pregnancy.

This condition is very serious, so it is necessary to do a cesarean section as soon as possible.

Placental abruption is a condition that occurs suddenly and requires immediate medical attention.

This condition can occur suddenly and if not treated can endanger the lives of both the mother and the baby.

How common is this condition?

Placental abruption is a rare but very serious health problem. Pregnant women are more at risk during the third trimester but this can occur after the 20th week of pregnancy.

Only about 1 percent of all pregnant women experience placental abruption. Consult a doctor for more information.

Signs and symptoms of placental abruption

Symptoms that often occur in placental abruption are:

• Uterine bleeding, abnormal uterine contractions, and fetal distress that can be checked from the fetal heart rate.
• Very painful uterine contractions.
• Limpness, low blood pressure, fast heart rate, abdominal pain, and back pain.

Abdominal pain and back pain often starts suddenly. Vaginal bleeding can also vary widely and does not necessarily indicate how far the placenta has separated from the uterus.

Blood may be trapped in the uterus, so bleeding may not be seen.

Quoted from the Mayo Clinic, in some cases, placental abruption develops slowly, causing occasional light vaginal bleeding.

The baby may not grow as fast as expected, and you may have less amniotic fluid or other complications.

In addition, the symptoms that appear may differ depending on the severity of the placental abruption (stage I, II, and III):

• Stage I: light bleeding from the vagina, light contractions in the uterus, stable vital signs, and a steady fetal heart rate. Normal blood clotting time.
• Stage II: moderate bleeding, abnormal contractions, low blood pressure, fetal distress, and abnormalities in blood clotting.
• Stage III: this stage is the most severe stage; symptoms include severe bleeding and contractions, low blood pressure, fetal death, and difficulty in blood clotting.

There may be signs and symptoms not listed above. If you have concerns about a particular symptom, consult a doctor.

When should I see a doctor?

You should contact your doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms:

• Vaginal bleeding;
• Abdominal pain
• Back pain
• Continuous tension in the uterus.

If you have signs or symptoms of placental abruption or other questions, consult a doctor.

Everyone's body is different. Always consult a doctor to treat your health condition.

Causes of placental abruption

The exact cause of placental abruption is not known with certainty, but it is not an inherited condition.

However, there are several conditions that can trigger this condition, namely:

• Direct trauma to the abdominal area (from a fall, car accident, hit or fall while working).
• Traumatic needle stick injuries to the placenta in the wrong place, bleeding, hematomas are formed after peeling off each other.
• If external cephalic version (ECV) from obstetricians and health workers is not appropriate, it also creates the risk of abruption of the placenta.
• External Cephalic Version (ECV) is a way to change the position of a breech baby. You do this by pressing the stomach and directing the baby's head down with ultrasound guidance. this can lead to the risk of placental abruption

Factors that increase the risk of placental abruption

Risk factors for abruption or placental abruption are:

• Previous history of placental abruption
• High blood pressure
• Trauma to the stomach (impact to the stomach or accident)
• Drug abuse
• The amniotic fluid breaks prematurely
• Blood clotting disorders
• Multiple or multiple pregnancies at risk of complications
• Age over 40 years

This condition is more common in women who are pregnant at old age, especially more than 40 years.

Complications of placental abruption

Placental abruption can cause problems and harm both the mother and the baby. In the mother, complications that may arise due to placental abruption are:

• Blood clotting problems (disseminated intravascular coagulation)
• Shock from losing a lot of blood
• Failure of the kidneys or other organs due to blood loss
• Bleeding in the uterus
• The risk of relapse is 4 to 12 percent

Quoting from Radiopaedia, complications in babies that may occur are:

• Born prematurely, meaning that the child was born before 37 weeks of gestation.
• Stunted and limited growth due to not getting enough nutrition
• Not getting enough oxygen
• Undeveloped fetus (IUGR)
• Stillbirth (stillbirth)

Stillbirth meaning that the child died in the womb after being pregnant for more than 20 weeks.

Diagnosis and treatment of placental abruption

The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice. ALWAYS consult your doctor.

What are the usual tests to diagnose this condition?

Even though it is difficult to diagnose, the doctor will ask questions related to the symptoms you are experiencing, and are advised to carry out a physical examination, such as:

• Ultrasound (ultraound), is performed to detect the placenta and the condition of the fetus.
• Fetal heart monitoring, is done to assess the condition of the baby and check the uterine contractions that occur.
• Blood test to determine the condition of an anemic mother because she has lost a lot of blood.

What are the treatment options for placental abruption?

The treatment performed depends on the seriousness of the patient's condition, such as:

• Pain in the abdominal area
• Bleeding in the vagina
• Shock symptoms (fainting, weakness, nausea, and vomiting)
• Breath hunting

If you experience the conditions above, do an examination immediately.

The severity of the condition cannot be diagnosed only by the symptoms that appear, because bleeding sometimes does not occur or only slightly comes out.

However, it could be a serious problem because blood gets trapped between the placenta and the uterine wall.

The type of treatment performed depends on how severe the detachment of the placenta is, the age of the pregnancy, and how much it affects the baby.

If you have a mild condition and your baby is not under pressure, you can undergo regular home care throughout pregnancy.

For conditions of heavy bleeding, hospitalization is necessary so that the health of you and the baby in the womb can be closely monitored.

Heavy bleeding requires that you get a blood transfusion to prevent anemia or organ failure due to lack of blood.

If the baby is born prematurely or is required to be delivered immediately, a cesarean delivery will be performed and the baby should receive the care needed in the hospital.

Home remedies for placental abruption

You may not be able to prevent placental abruption. However, you can reduce certain risk factors.

For example, not using illegal drugs and not smoking while pregnant. Always use safety equipment when driving to avoid injury to the stomach.

Here are lifestyle and home remedies that can help you treat placental abruption:

• Perform routine pregnancy control checks to detect placental abruption to get immediate treatment in the hospital.
• Treatment for diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure to lower the risk of placental abruption.

If you have experienced placental abruption, and are planning another pregnancy, talk to your doctor about ways to reduce your risk of having a placental abruption again.

If you have any questions, consult your doctor for the best solution to your problem.