What is Placental Abruption & who's most at risk for abruption? - Dr. Beena Jeysingh

Placental abruption is a condition which is a premature separation of the placenta from the lining of the uterus. As we all know the placenta, we can call the placenta the lifeline for the transfer or the transport of the nutrients or the oxygen from the mother to the baby and this placenta during the normal process of labor gets separated and expelled after the baby is born, but unfortunately in a condition called as placental abruption this happens even before the baby is delivered or even when the baby is inside the uterus. This condition normally occurs in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, but it can happen any time after 20 weeks of pregnancy and the overall instance of placental abruption during pregnancy is about 1 %. So who are the women at high risk for placental abruption. Women who are 35 years of age and above, who are carrying more than 1 fetus, namely a twin pregnancy, or a triplet pregnancy, who have hypertension complicating pregnancy or who develop pregnancy induced hypertension or pre eclampsia, if there is an incidence of abdominal trauma during pregnancy, be it motor vehicle accident or domestic violence or an assault, when there is previous history of abruption in the previous pregnancies in the current pregnancy if she goes through a condition called as choriamnionitis, which is a condition of the uterus and its lining of membranes or there is a premature rupture of membranes where there is a water breakage and leak much before the onset of labour and this condition is there for 24 hours or more and when there is a uterine abnormality where the shape of the uterus is abnormal, in all these conditions the woman is at an increased risk of developing placental abruption, but not to forget, even women who smoke and who have the issue of substance abuse, namely cocaine are at an incidence of developing placental abruption. There is even a study which has reported the incidence to be as high as 40%.